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THE  LAY  ELEMENT 

IN  THE  INTERMEDIATE  UNIT  OF 

STATE  SCHOOL  SYSTEMS 


A  DISSERTATION 

SUBMITTED  TO  THE  FACULTY 

OF  THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL  OF  ARTS  AND  LITERATURE 

IN  CANDIDACY  FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF 

DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 


DEPARTMENT  OF  EDUCATION 


THOMAS  DUDLEY  BROOKS 


Private  Edition,  Distributed  By 

THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  LIBRARIES 

CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 


Reprinted  from 

THE  BAYLOR  BULLETIN.  VOL.  XXV,  NO   1 

January  1922 


'  *„    "^       ■*    •* 


€he  Untunsity  of  Chicago 


THE  LAY  ELEMENT 

IN  THE  INTERMEDIATE  UNIT  OF 

STATE  SCHOOL  SYSTEMS 


A  DISSERTATION 

SUBMITTED  TO  THE  FACULTY 

OF  THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL  OF  ARTS  AND  LITERATURE 

IN  CANDIDACY  FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF 

DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 

DEPARTMENT  OF  EDUCATION 


BY 


THOMAS  DUDLEY  BROOKS 


Private  Edition,  Distributed  By 

THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO  LIBRARIES 

CHICAGO,  ILLINOIS 


Reprinted  from 

THE  BAYLOR  BULLETIN,  VOL.  XXV,  NO.  1 

January  1922 


^0 


EDUCATION  DE?T. 


PREFACE 

The  following  is  a  single  chapter  of  a  comparative  study,  made  as  a 
part  of  the  New  York  Rural  School  Survey,  of  the  intermediate  unit  in 
school  administration  as  it  has  developed  in  New  York  and  in  the  other 
states.  Other  topics  of  the  comprehensive  study  are:  the  evolution  of  the 
intermediate  unit,  the  functions  of  its  professional  officers,  and  the 
selection  and  remuneration  of  such  officers.  There  is  also  a  considera- 
tion based  on  other  sources  than  statutes,  of  the  lines  of  development 
indicated  by  current  practice  in  New  York. 

The  sources  of  fact  in  the  general  study  are  the  school  laws  of  the 
several  states,  the  documents  examined  being  listed  on  pages  40-42. 
Statistical  data  have  been  taken  from  reports  of  the  New  York  district 
superintendents,  and  are  for  the  year  1919-1920.  Information  was  also 
secured  by  question  blanks  sent  to  the  several  state  departments,  to  the 
district  superintendents,  and  to  the  chairmen  of  the  boards  of  school 
directors  in  New  York. 

The  complete  study  was  submitted  to  the  Faculty  of  the  Graduate 
School  of  Arts  and  Literature  of  the  University  of  Chicago  in  partial 
fulfillment  of  the  requirements  for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy 
in  the  Department  of  Education.  The  present  is  the  publication  of  a  single 
chapter  as  a  "representative  unit"  of  the  whole  in  satisfaction  of  require- 
ments therewith. 
August  2,   1921,  T.   D.   B. 


e:(l^  Aocr 


THE  LAY  ELEMENT  IN  THE  INTERMEDIATE  UNIT 
OF  STATE  SCHOOL  SYSTEMS 

Amid  all  the  diversity  of  the  state  school  systems,  there  is  apparent  in 
each  the  provision  of  administrative  and  supervisory  school  machinery 
on  three  rather  distinct  levels:  the  local,  the  state,  and  one  intermediate 
between  them.  The  school  is  local  in  its  operations  and  requires  distinctly 
local  machinery.  Our  American  political  tendencies  cause  us  to  assign 
to  this  local  unit  as  many  as  possible  of  the  functions  of  school  manage- 
ment. At  the  same  time  it  is  a  fundamental  doctrine  that  education  is  a 
function  of  the  state,  exercised  primarily  for  the  protection  of  the  state 
itself.  Hence  in  each  state  there  is  a  state  department  of  education, 
charged  among  other  duties  with  the  maintenance  of  such  standards  as 
the  state  sees  fit  to  enforce. 

To  secure  the  co-operation  and  co-ordination  of  state  and  local  units, 
an  intermediate  unit  becomes  necessarj'.  It  serves  the  state  department 
as  a  "medium  of  communication"  for  information  concerning  the  law, 
procedure  and  practice ;  for  leadership  and  stimulation  ;  and  for  effective 
enforcement  of  standards. 

However,  the  American  people  are  coming  to  conceive  of  certain  educa- 
tional services  as  imperative  which  the  local  unit  is  unable  to  render  for 
itself.  Expert  school  supervision  is  an  example  of  tlicse  new  demands. 
Co-operative  provision  for  these  through  the  intermediate  unit  is  a 
marked  feature  of  school  legislation  in  recent  decades. 

This  dual  classification  of  function  as  intermediary  and  co-operative  is 
illuminating  in  the  study  of  effective  organization  for  such  school  ma- 
chinery.    It  also  serves  to  explain  some  stages  of  its  evolution. 

Cook  and  Monahan  (i)  conclude  that  the  present  office  of  county 
superintendent,  almost  universally  a  feature  of  the  intermediate  unit, 
evolved  from  lay  boards  which  were,  it  seems,  clearly  intermediate  in 
their  character.  This  evolution  is  particularly  clear  in  New  York,  where 
the  substitution  of  a  professional  officer  for  a  lay  board  was  effected 
by  laws  enacted  in  1841  and  i8;3.  (-)  The  transition  was  in  general 
completed  in  the  reorganization  of  the  school  systems  of  the  Southern 
states  which  followed  the  reconstruction  period.  More  recently  there  has 
been  a  decided  trend,  the  extent  of  which  is  made  apparent  in  the  fol- 
lowing pages,  to  the  association  of  a  lay  board  and  a  professional  officer 
or  staff. 

To  the  writer  this  evolution  is  significant.  It  became  evident  half  a 
century  ago  that  a  layman  could  not  perform  the  detailed  tasks  involved 
in  school  supervision  and  management.  Hence  a  single  officer  was  sul)- 
stituted  for  a  laj-  board.     Today  the  growing  conception  of  the  possibili- 


(1)  Took   and   Monahan:    Rural   School   Supervision,   paffcs  7-12. 

(2)  Laws  of  New  York   1S41,   chapter  260;   Laws  of  New  York  1S13,  chap- 
ter 133. 


«         « 


•  •     •  •.  ^  1     • 


6  THE   LAY    ELEMENT    IN    THE    INTERMEDIATE 

ties  of  co-operative  service  by  the  intermediate  unit  and  the  realization 
that  school  supervision  involves  the  formulation  of  programs  and  policies 
lead  to  the  re-injection  of  lay  control  for  the  exercise  of  larger  powers. 

It  seems  an  American  tendency  to  employ  a  professional  officer  for 
the  performance  of  rather  narrowly  limited  statutory  duties,  for  rendering 
service  requiring  expertness,  for  executive  responsibility,  and  for  expert 
counsel.  On  the  other  hand,  for  the  expression  of  popular  desire,  the 
formulation  of  policy  and  program,  the  exercise  of  discretionary  author- 
ity, and  the  employment  and  direction  of  professional  experts,  the  ten- 
dency seems  to  be  to  provide  lay  boards-  The  American  people  tend  to 
resist,  as  bureaucratic,  the  exercise  of  large  authority  by  a  single  officer 
except  w^here  his  work  is  closely  paralleled  by  lay  control.  If  this  is  a 
true  description  of  the  political  characteristics  of  the  American  people, 
it  is  wise  that  school  administration  machinery  conform  to   it. 

Furthermore,  the  real  authority  and  responsibility  rest  with  the  people. 
Continued  direction  of  the  schools  by  professional  experts  without  popu- 
lar participation  must  produce  in  the  people  lessened  acquaintance  with 
and  interest  in  the  problems  of  the  schools,  and  lessened  ability  to  deal 
with  them.  This  reduces  the  ability  to  exercise  local  initiative,  to  main- 
tain expert  management,  or  even  to  respond  to  expert  leadership.  When 
the  public  refuse  to  follow  out  a  proposed  program  (to  finance  a  given 
school  activity,  for  example),  it  means  either  mistaken  leadership,  or  an 
uninformed  public,  or  a  financial  inability.  So  far  as  the  provision  of  a 
lay  board  as  an  element  of  the  intermediate  unit  indicates  popular  par- 
ticipation in  the  functioning  of  the  intermediate  unit  and  secures  for  it  a 
larger  authority,  it  must  be  desirable. 

This  combination  of  professional  service  and  lay  control  is  the  basis  on 
which  our  unequaled  American  urban  school  systems  have  developed.  It 
is  evident  in  all  local  units — a  trustee,  school  committee  or  board  of  edu- 
cation, and  a  teacher  or  a  teaching  staff.  On  the  state  plane  in  the  most 
fully  developed  systems,  there  is  a  lay  board  of  education  and  a  state 
superintendent  or  a  state  commissioner  of  education  heading  a  profes- 
sional staff.  From  this  point  of  view  a  canvass  of  general  practice  with 
regard  to  the  composition  of  the  intermediate  unit  should  be  worth  while. 

Under  the  New  England  plan  the  lay  element  is  not  lacking.  There 
the  local  units  are  the  towns,  which  unite  voluntarily  or  are  grouped  into 
supervisory  unions  by  the  state  departments  for  the  joint  employment  of 
school  superintendents.  The  superintendent  is  in  close  and  constant 
relationship  with  the  school  committee  of  each  town,  and  provision  is 
also  made  in  most  instances  for  representatives  of  each  of  the  school 
committees  to  compose  a  joint  supervision  committee  to  function  co-oper- 
atively on  the  intermediate  level- 

This  joint  supervision  committee  is  a  feature  of  the  plan  in  Connecticut 
and  Massachusetts.  In  Maine  the  law  provides  that  the  superintending 
school  committees  of  the  towns  composing  the  union  shall  form  a  joint 
committee  which  may  be  composed  of  all  the  committees  of  each  of  the 


UNIT    OF   STATE    SCHOOL   SYSTEMS  7 

towns,  or  of  one  representative  from  each  with  the  full  vote  of  the  town. 
In  New  Hampshire  the  school  boards  of  the  several  districts  composing 
the  union  constitute  a  joint  committee  which  for  all  the  purposes  of  the 
union  is  the  agent  of  each  district  therein  represented.  The  Vermont  law 
seems  less  general  in  its  provision  of  a  lay  board  on  the  intermediate 
level,  since  apparently  the  boards  meet  jointly  only  at  the  call  of  the 
State  Commissioner  of  Education  in  the  case  of  a  vacancy  in  the  union 
superintendency,  when  from  a  list  of  qualified  persons  submitted  by  the 
Commissioner  they  elect  a  superintendent ;  or  in  the  case  complaint  is 
filed  against  the  superintendent  by  two  directors,  to  pass  upon  his  reten- 
tion or  dismissal. 

With  this  exception  the  New  England  plan  seems  to  provide  for  the 
union  a  lay  board  which  functions  continuously,  and  is  in  a  position  to 
formulate  and  put  into  execution  such  a  co-operative  program  as  the 
interests  of  the  schools  demand. 

The  intermediate  unit  in  the  county  system  states  may  be  described  as 
of  either  the  county  board  type  or  the  county  officer  type.  In  some  of 
the  states  in  which  a  county  board  is  provided,  the  "county  unit"  form 
of  administration  is  adopted,  in  which  almost  all  of  the  administration 
and  supervision  of  the  schools  of  the  county  are  performed  by  the  county 
board  and  its  professional  officer  or  officers,  few  of  the  original  func- 
tions being  left  to  the  district.  In  other  cases  the  county  board  serves  to 
furnish  a  more  or  less  comprehensive  program  of  supervision  and  to 
perform  such  other  administrative  functions  as  the  local  district  clearly 
cannot  perform  effectively  for  itself. 

Tv.enty-six  states  have  one  or  the  other  of  these  types  of  county  boards 
of  education,  usually  known  by  that  name,  and  referred  to  in  this  study 
as  county  boards.  Washington  and  California  have  county  boards,  part 
at  least  of  which  are  teachers,  certification  of  teachers  being  apparently 
their  chief  function.  Many  of  the  duties  of  the  Kansas  board  also  sug- 
gest a  professional  membership.  Each  board  exercises  some  of  the 
functions  usual  to  lay  boards,  however,  and  is  treated  as  such  here. 

In  ten  states,  Alabama,  Florida,  Georgia,  Kentucky,  Louisiana,  Mary- 
land, Missouri,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee,  and  Utah,  county  boards  have 
been  assigned  most  of  the  powers  formerly  held  by  the  local  trustees 
and  these  systems  represent  the  "county  unit"  plan.  Prior  to  the  enact- 
ment of  sweeping  changes  by  the  1921  legislature,  the  Delaware  organiza- 
tion had  been  for  several  years  a  very  complete  example  of  the  county 
unit  plan.  As  such,  the  former  law  is  referred  to  in  the  following  pages 
when  Delaware  is  mentioned  unless  it  is  otherwise  stated.  The  law,  as 
may  be  seen  from  the  following  pages,  not  only  provided  an  organization 
which  might  undertake  large  co-operative  service,  but  by  detailed  pre- 
scription made  many  progressive  and  probably  expensive  features  manda- 
tory.    The  new  law   (^)   is  a  sweeping  abolition  of  the  intermediate  unit. 

(1)  The  School  Laws  of  Delaware,  as  Enacted  by  the  General  Assembly, 
192i, 


8  THE    LAY    ELEMENT   IN    THE   INTEEMEDIATE 

Legislation  enacted  in  1921  in  Arizona  (^)  and  Oregon  (2)  provides 
such  a  plan  of  school  administration,  the  adoption  of  which  is  optional 
with  the  counties.  References  to  these  states  in  this  study  are  based  on 
the  general  laws,  which  presumably  for  a  time  at  least  will  continue  to 
determine  practice  in  these  states.  The  nature  of  the  new  laws  can  be 
inferred  very  accurately  from  the  plans  of  other  county  unit  states. 

In  general  the  criteria  by  which  the  county  unit  plan  can  be  distin- 
guished from  a  purely  intermediate  unit  plan  are  whether  the  county 
board  selects  teachers  for  the  local  schools  and  holds,  erects,  maintains, 
and  equips  the  school  houses,  though  not  all  of  the  states  named  grant 
the  county  board  all  these  powers. 
^  Although  in  these  states  it  is  generally  provided  that,  to  quote  the 
*•  Alamaba  statute  as  an  example,  "the  public  schools  of  the  several  coun- 
ties of  the  state,  except  those  in  the  incorporated  cities  and  towns,  shall 
be  under  the  immediate  direction  and  control  of  a  county  board  of  educa- 
tion," there  is  usually  also  provision  for  a  local  school  officer  to  exercise 
oversight  over  the  property  and  affords  a  means  of  communicating  local 
sentiment  concerning  the  schools. 

To  quote  the  Alabama  code  again,  the  county  board  is  instructed  to 

"  *  *  *  appoint  for  every  school  in  the  county  a  discreet,  competent  and 
reliable  person  or  persons  of  mature  years,  not  exceeding  three  in  number, 
residing  near  the  scliool  house,  and  having  the  respect  and  confidence  of 
the  community,  to  care  for  the  property,  and  look  after  the  general  inter- 
ests of  the  school,  and  to  make  to  the  county  board  of  education,  through 
the  county  superintendent  of  education,  from  time  to  time,  reports  of  the 
progress  and  needs  of  the  school,  and  of  the  will  and  sentiment  of  the 
people  in  regard  to  the  school." 

Delaware  continued  a  district  board  of  trustees  which  the  county  board 
was  required  to  consult  before  changing  the  boundaries  of  school  attend- 
ance districts-  The  Florida  law  provides  that  the  county  board  shall 
appoint  one  "supervisor"'  for  each  school  on  the  recommendation  of  the 
patrons,  "whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  supervise  the  work  of  the  schools  and 
report  monthly  to  the  county  superintendent."  The  office  of  local  trustee 
is  retained  in  Kentuckj',  even  under  the  new  law  of  1921,  which  very 
greatly  enlarged  the  powers  of  the  county  board.  The  parish  board  in 
Louisiana  "may  appoint  local  school  directors  and  prescribe  their  duties." 
In  Georgia  the  county  board  may  or  may  not  provide  for  the  election  of 
district  trustees.  The  Maryland  county  board  of  education  appoints 
district  boards  of  trustees  and  has  the  power  to  remove  them.  This 
district  board  has  the  power  to  refuse  to  accept  the  teacher  assigned  to 
their  school,  but  cannot  refuse  to  accept  more  than  two  for  the  same 
place ;  and  may  file  written  charges  against  a  teacher.  It  also  appoints 
the  janitor,  has  care  of  the  property,  sees  that  the  outbuildings  are  well 
kept,  and  attends  to  incidental  repairs,  charging  the  cost  to  the  county 
school   fund. 

(1)  Senate   Bill   No.    104,    1921. 

(2)  General  Laws  of  Oregon  1921,  chapter  265.  .  .     , 


UNIT   OF   STATE    SCHOOL   SYSTEMS  9 

Under  the  1921  law  by  which  Missouri  adopts  the  county  unit  plan  the 
directors  of  the  local  districts  select  their  own  teachers  from  an  eligible 
list  furnished  by  the  county  superintendent,  although  the  teachers  are 
employed  and  their  salaries  fixed  by  the  county  board.  In  North  Caro- 
lina the  township  committee  appoints  one  man  in  each  school  district  to 
look  after  the  school  house  and  property  and  advise  with  the  committee. 
Until  modified  by  the  1921  legislation,  the  Tennessee  law  provided  for  a 
district  advisory  board  which  visited  and  inspected  schools,  saw  that  the 
school  house  was  in  good  repair  and  properly  equipped,  made  recom- 
mendations to  the  county  board,  took  the  census,  might  suspend  pupils 
and  might  order  repairs  up  to  the  amount  of  $10.  This  local  board,  along 
with  the  county  high  school  board,  was  abolished  at  the  last  legislative 
session,  the  functions  of  both  being  vested  in  the  county  board. 

Thus  even  under  a  plan  where  the  schools  of  a  county  are  managed  as 
a  unit  by  a  county  board,  in  nine  of  the  eleven  states  there  remains  some 
purely  local  machinery. 

The  other  sixteen  states  that  have  county  boards — Arkansas,  California, 
Indiana,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Mississippi,  Montana  (an  optional  plan),  Nevada, 
New  Mexico,  Ohio,  Oregon,  South  Carolina,  Texas,  Virginia,  Washing- 
ton, and  Wisconsin — preserve  a  system  of  district  administration  and 
utilize  the  county  boards  for  varying  purposes  of  co-operation  and  con- 
trol. Among  the  functions  assigned  them  in  various  states  are  the  fol- 
lowing: (i)  formation,  alteration  and  consolidation  of  school  districts; 
(2)  the  making  of  county  school  budgets  and  the  levying  of  county  school 
taxes;  (3)  the  apportionment  of  school  funds;  (4)  the  correlation  of 
the  schools  into  a  system  and  the  provision  of  high  schools  and  of  larger 
school  opportunity  in  other  ways  than  a  single  district  can  provide;  (5) 
the  certification  of  teachers;  (6)  the  selection  of  textbooks;  (7)  the 
prescription  of  a  course  of  study;  (8)  provision  of  a  program  of  super- 
vision; (9)  the  administration  of  compulsory  attendance,  vaccination  re- 
quirements, etc-;  (10)  the  hearing  of  appeals.  Another  most  important 
item  in  the  description  of  these  boards  is  their  relation  to  the  county 
superintendent. 

In  Alabama,  Delaware,  Florida,  Georgia,  Kentucky,  Louisiana,  Mary- 
land, Tennessee,  and  Utah,  the  county  board  selects  the  teachers  for 
each  of  the  schools.  The  power  to  fix  salary,  assign,  transfer  or  dismiss 
may  be  generally  implied  in  this,  though  not  always  explicitly  stated  in 
the  codes.  In  New  Mexico,  the  local  directors  employ  the  teachers,  sub- 
ject to  the  approval  of  the  county  board.  In  North  Carolina  there  is  a 
township  board  which  selects  the  teachers  although  the  county  board 
determines  the  salary  schedule. 

The  county  boards  in  Alabama,  Delaware,  Florida,  Georgia,  Kentucky, 
Louisiana,  Maryland,  New  Mexico,  Missouri,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee, 
and  Utah  hold  the  title  to  the  school  property,  purchase  or  lease  sites, 
and  erect,  maintain,  and  equip  the  school  houses  in  the  county.  In  South 


10  THE    LAY    ELEMENT    IN    THE    INTERMEDIATE 

Carolina  all  building  plans  must  be  submitted  to  the  county  board  for 
approval. 

Probably  the  most  common  function  of  the  county  board  in  the  several 
states  is  the  formation,  alteration,  dissolution,  and  consolidation  of  school 
districts.  This  power  is  assigned  the  county  board  in  Alabama,  Arkansas, 
Delaware,  Florida,  Georgia,  Kentucky,  Louisiana,  Mar>'land,  Mississippi, 
Missouri,  New  Mexico,  North  Carolina,  Ohio,  South  Carolina,  Tennessee, 
Texas,  and  Wisconsin.  Of  the  states  having  county  boards  which  do  not 
control  district  lines,  the  lack  of  the  power  is  explained  by  the  fact  that 
in  Virginia  the  magisterial  district  is  the  school  district,  and  in  Indiana 
the  township ;  while  in  California,  Iowa,  Kansas,  Montana,  Nevada,  Ore- 
gon, and  Washington  the  county  boards  exercise  very  restricted  powers. 

It  ought  not  to  be  thought  that  this  is  an  unimportant  function  for  the 
intermediate  unit.  The  impossibility  of  its  exercise  by  a  central  state 
office  is  apparent.  It  is  equally  evident  that  if  all  the  territory  of  the 
state  is  to  be  organized  into  school  districts,  it  cannot  be  left  to  the  wishes 
of  the  residents  of  the  districts  themselves.  Experience  has  shown  that 
its  exercise  by  non-educational  authorities  is  almost  always  without  con- 
structive program,  along  lines  of  least  resistance,  and  tends  to  the  multi- 
plication of  small  districts. 

Nor  can  it  be  assumed  that  in  the  states  that  are  generally  settled  up, 
the  existing  district  lines  can  remain  unchanged  indefinitely.  Very  evi- 
dent facts  concerning  rural  population  are  distinctly  to  the  contrary.  In 
many  sections  the  rural  population  is  decreasing  in  numbers.  With  im- 
proved farm  machinery,  fewer  people  are  needed  to  till  the  soil,  and  the 
attractions  of  urban  life  do  not  fail  to  draw  off  the  excess  population. 
Changes  in  the  prevailing  form  of  agriculture  may  make  rapid  changes 
in  the  number  of  residents  in  a  given  farming  community,  because  the 
new  type  of  farming  demands  more  or  fewer  people.  There  is  a  very 
general  reduction  in  the  size  of  the  American  family  as  compared  with 
two  or  three  generations  ago-  In  a  small  community  with  a  few  families, 
permanently  established,  the  number  of  children  of  school  age  is  not 
steady  through  a  considerable  period  of  years,  but  tends  to  fluctuate, 
sometimes  markedly,  with  the  maturing  of  families  and  the  coming  on  of 
a  new  generation.  It  is  a  common  thing  to  find,  as  a  result  of  these  fac- 
tors, schools  which  today  have  a  bare  handful  of  children  and  which  had, 
twenty-five  or  thirty  years  ago,  a  hundred  or  more. 

Even  more  important  are  the  effects  of  changes  in  school  curriculum 
and  school  organization.  A  single  teacher  cannot  administer  an  eight 
grade,  fully  graded  course.  Her  day  isn't  long  enough  to  hear  all  the 
classes.  At  least  two  teachers  with  the  complement  of  children  to  war- 
rant their  employment  are  necessary  to  provide  a  complete  elementary 
school,  fully  graded.  The  power  to  modify  district  lines  continues  to  be 
fundamental  in  school  administration,  and  must  be  exercised  construc- 
tively. 


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32  THE   LAY   ELEMENT    IN    THE    INTERMEDIATE 

The  authority  of  county  boards  is  sometimes  limited  by  permitting  the 
people  of  the  districts  affected  to  veto  a  change  by  a  majority  vote  or 
petition,  or  to  appeal  to  the  state  department.  Quite  as  frequently,  how- 
ever, in  recent  legislation,  there  is  statutory  limitation  to  guard  against 
making  the  districts  too  small.  The  former  Delaware  code  provided  that 
"the  county  Board  of  Education  shall  not  maintain  any  single  room  school 
without  the  written  approval  of  the  State  Board  of  Education  which  dur- 
ing the  last  three  preceding  school  years  has  had  an  average  of  less  than 
twelve  pupils,"  and  the  new  code  permits  the  closing  of  such  a  school  by 
the  State  Board  of  Education. 

The  Florida  law  says  that  "schools  shall  not  be  nearer  than  three 
miles  to  each  other  except  for  some  local  reason  or  necessity."  The 
Louisiana  parish  board  "may  not  open  a  school  for  fewer  than  ten  pupils 
in  average  daily  attendance,  except  upon  the  approval  of  the  State  Board 
of  Education."  North  Carolina  makes  the  restriction  triple :  the  county 
board  may  establish  no  new  school  in  less  than  three  miles  of  a  present 
one ;  it  may  create  no  new  district  with  less  than  sixty-five  children, 
unless  for  some  urgent  reason ;  and  it  may  not  increase  the  number  of 
districts  existing  on  January  i,  1919.  South  Carolina  prescribes  that  the 
county  school  board  shall  "divide  the  county  into  convenient  school  dis- 
tricts of  from  nine  to  forty-nine  square  miles  in  area-"  Tennessee  re- 
quires the  county  board  to  suspend  any  school  where  the  attendance  falls 
below  ten. 

These  provisions,  as  well  as  frequent  explicit  authority  to  consolidate 
schools,  usually  coupled  with  permissive  or  mandatory  provisions  concern- 
ing transportation  of  pupils,  show  the  very  general  recognition  in  the 
several  states  that  the  country  school  must  be  a  larger  school  to  meet 
modem  demands. 

In  Delaware,  Florida,  Kentucky,  Louisiana,  Maryland,  Missouri,  Mon- 
tana, Nevada,  Utah,  and  Virginia,  the  county  board  formulates  the  an- 
nual school  budget  for  the  county.  In  Delaware  the  county  board  prepared 
an  itemized  budget  and  laid  a  capitation  tax  of  from  $3.00  to  $6.00  on 
all  voters  in  the  county  and  a  property  tax  of  not  to  exceed  i  per  cent. 
This  budget  and  proposed  tax  is  submitted,  by  the  state  board  of  educa- 
tion, to  the  Levy  Board  of  the  county,  which  was  directed  to  levy  and 
collect.  The  Florida  provision  is  that  the  county  board  shall  prepare  an 
annual  budget,  in  terms  of  a  tax  (from  3  to  7  mills),  which  "the  assessor 
shall  assess."  The  Kentucky  fiscal  court  must  make  the  levy,  between 
25c  and  50c  on  each  $100  valuation,  of  a  tax  to  provide  the  budget  made 
by  the  county  board.  In  Maryland  the  county  board,  with  the  advice 
of  the  county  superintendent,  prepares  a  detailed  school  budget  showing 
funds  needed,  estimated  receipts  from  the  state,  and  the  necessary  local 
tax,  which  may  not  be  less  than  34c  on  the  $100  valuation.  This  tax  the 
county  commissioners  must  levy  up  to  a  40c  limit,  above  which  their 
approval  is  necessary. 


UNIT   OF   STATE    SCHOOL   SYSTEMS  13 

The  Missouri  board  formulates  and  publishes  a  budget,  with  the  author- 
ity to  levy  a  40c  tax  and  to  submit  to  the  voters  such  increase  in  the 
levy  as  the  budget  indicates  is  necessary.  This  function  is  apparently 
the  only  one  exercised  by  the  Montana  board  under  the  1919  law.  The 
trustees  of  the  subdistrict  prepare  a  budget  including  all  items  of  opera- 
tion and  maintenance  for  the  ensuing  year.  From  these  subdistrict 
budgets,  the  county  board  prepares  a  budget  for  the  county  and  certifies 
it  to  the  county  commissioners  who  levy  the  necessary  tax.  Extraordi- 
nary expenditures  or  those  for  other  purposes  than  operation  and  main- 
tenance are  not  included  in  the  budget,  but  are  cared  for  by  a  tax  on 
the  property  of  the  subdistrict.  The  county  board  in  Utah  likewise  has 
authority  to  have  levied  the  tax  to  provide  the  budget  it  formulates.  The 
Virginia  county  board  prepares  an  estimate  of  the  funds  needed  and 
submits  it  to  the  county  board  of  supervisors,  where  the  taxing  author- 
ity seems  to  be  lodged.  The  parish  board  of  Louisiana  and  the  county 
board  of  North  Carolina  are  also  required  to  formulate  budgets  without 
the  authority  to  levy  the  corresponding  tax.  The  latter,  like  the  Alabama 
board,  has  the  authority  to  initiate  a  tax  election  when  need  for  increased 
funds  arises. 

Louisiana  and  South  Carolina  make  the  levy  of  a  three  mill  county 
school  tax  obligatory  on  the  county  boards,  the  proceeds  of  which  they 
apportion  among  the  districts.  Arkansas,  Kentucky,  New  Mexico,  Texas, 
and  Virginia  also  charge  the  county  board  with  the  apportionment  of 
state  and  county  school  funds  to  the  several  districts,  a  function  that  is 
very  frequently  performed  by  the  county  superintendent  in  other  states. 
In  Arkansas,  Ohio,  Oregon,  and  Texas  the  program  of  activity  which 
the  county  board  is  authorized  to  undertake,  including  in  some  instances 
the  salary  and  expenses  of  the  county  superintendent,  is  paid  for  from  an 
unapportioned  part  of  the  county  school  fund  reserved  at  the  time  of 
apportionment  to  the   districts. 

A  fourth  function  frequently  assigned  to  the  county  board  is  the  cor- 
relation of  the  schools  of  the  county  into  a  system,  and  the  provision  of 
larger  school  opportunity  through  high  schools,  etc.  Alabama,  Delaware, 
Florida,  Kentucky,  Maryland,  and  Texas  empower  the  county  board  to 
"grade  and  classify,"  or  to  "grade  and  standardize"  the  schools.  The 
Delaware  board  is  charged  also  to  provide  for  the  transfer  of  pupils  from 
six-grade  to  eight-grade  schools,  and  for  the  admission  to  high  school  of 
those  who  complete  the  eighth  grade.  This  provision  for  elementary 
school  graduation  or  for  admission  to  high  school  is  explicitly  made  a 
duty  of  the  county  board  in  California,  Kansas,  and  Washington.  Tlic 
function  is  probably  implicit  in  the  power  to  make  rules  and  regulations 
for  the  conduct  and  management  of  the  schools,  granted  tlic  county  boards 
in  Delaware,  Georgia,  Iowa,  Kentucky,  Maryland,  North  Carolina,  and 
Washington,  and  in  general  within  the  province  of  county  boards  in 
county  unit  stategr 


14  THE    LAY    ELEMENT    IN   THE   INTEEMEDIATE 

Again  the  importance  and  educational  character  of  this  function  need 
to  be  emphasized.  It  is  essentially  the  co-ordinating  of  the  individual 
district  schools  to  the  end  that  pupils  may,  on  changing  their  residence, 
pass  from  one  to  another  with  a  minimum  of  interruption.  It  is  neces- 
sary in  order  that  each  school  may  undertake  only  such  work  as  it  can 
efficiently  do,  while  the  opportunity  for  more  advanced  work  not  only 
may  be  constantly  available  to  each  pupil  but  may  exert  its  very  real 
influence  in  holding  pupils  in  school.  Studies  in  other  than  rural  educa- 
tion indicate  that  the  most  important  factor  in  persistence  in  school  is 
the  purpose  of  the  pupil;  but  if  the  school  system  does  not  make  evident 
to  him  an  open  road,  he  is  not  likely  to  form  a  definite  purpose  to  com- 
plete an  education. 

The  necessity  for  the  co-operation  of  local  districts  to  provide  high 
school  advantages  has  been  fruitful  of  a  large  volume  of  educational 
legislation.  Of  the  many  efforts  to  provide  a  solution,  several  are  based 
on  the  functioning  of  a  county  board.  In  Nevada,  the  county  board  has 
the  single  duty  of  providing  one  or  more  high  schools  for  pupils  resid- 
ing outside  of  the  city  school  districts,  but  for  this  purpose  it  is  granted 
what  is  apparently  a  full  list  of  powers.  When  the  establishment  of  a 
county  high  school  has  been  authorized,  the  county  board  is  created  and 
may  prepare  an  annual  budget  to  be  raised  by  taxation,  employ  teachers 
and  other  necessary  employees,  and  is  charged  with  enforcing  the  state 
uniform  high  school  course  of  study. 

In  California,  in  addition  to  legislation  permitting  cities  and  strong 
school  districts  to  provide  high  schools,  technical  schools  and  junior  col- 
leges independently,  provision  is  made  for  the  organization  of  high 
school  districts  independent  of  their  component  common  school  districts, 
and  for  the  consolidation  of  weak  high  school  districts  into  stronger 
"union  high  school  districts."  The  law  contemplates  that  when  such 
union  high  school  districts  include  all  the  territory  of  the  county  outside 
of  cities  and  other  school  districts  maintaining  high  schools,  the  high 
school  district  shall  become  a  "county  high  school  district,"  and  that  the 
county  board  of  education  shall  become  the  trustees  of  such  county  high 
school  district  and  "shall  have  the  same  powers  and  duties  in  regard 
thereto,  as  high  school  boards  of  other  high  school  districts."  The 
county  board  is  also  authorized  to  permit  common  school  districts  to 
offer  something  more  than  the  elementary  course. 

In  connection  with  the  function  of  classifying  schools,  the  county  board 
in  Texas  is  especially  charged  with  the  development  of  high  school  facil- 
ities, though  not  permitted  to  establish  high  schools  outright.  It  may 
work  on  any  one  of  three  plans :  the  consolidation  of  districts  for  high 
school  purposes  only;  the  outright  consolidation  of  districts  to  produce 
a  unit  strong  enough  to  maintain  high  schools ;  or  the  negotiation  of  ar- 
rangements between  separate  school  districts  by  which  one  provides  high 
school  instruction  for  the  pupils  of  another. 


UNIT    OF   STATE    SCHOOL   SYSTEMS  15 

The  Mississippi  law,  under  which  county  agricultural  high  schools  are 
being  established  over  the  state,  makes  the  establishment  of  such  high 
schools  devolve  on  the  county  board,  although  the  schools  are  admin- 
istered by  a  separate  board  of  five  trustees,  two  of  whom  are  appointed 
by  the  county  board-  In  the  New  Mexico  law,  high  schools  in  rural 
districts  are  specifically  in  the  list  over  which  the  county  board  shall  have 
"full  power  and  control." 

In  the  case  of  county  unit  states,  the  provision  of  high  schools  is  im- 
plicit  apparently  in  each  case.  In  Alabama  the  governor,  the  auditor  and 
the  superintendent  of  education  constitute  a  commission  to  locate  one 
high  school  in  each  county,  which  after  establishment  is  under  the  control 
and  direction  of  the  county  board  but  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  above 
"high  school  commission."  The  attorney  general  of  the  state  has  ruled 
that  the  county  board  may  make  appropriation  from  funds  in  its  control 
for  the  maintenance  of  these  schools.  The  Delaware  board  was  vested 
"with  all  the  powers  necessary  or  proper  for  the  control  and  manage- 
ment of  the  free  public  schools."  Besides  a  similar  general  statement, 
the  Florida  county  board  is  required  to  "establish,  when  required  by 
patrons,  schools  of  higher  grades  of  instruction,  where  the  advancement 
and  number  of  pupils  require  them."  The  Georgia  county  boards  "may 
organize  one  or  more  manual  labor  schools  on  such  a  plan  as  will  be 
self-sustaining,"  and  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  state  board  of  edu- 
cation. This  provision  is  either  humor  of  the  legislative  "joker"  variety, 
or  is  an  astonishing  tribute  to  the  ingenuity  of  the  county  school  boards. 
Fortunately  the  code  also  states  that  "the  Board  of  Education  of  any 
county  or  municipality  shall  have  the  right  to  establish  one  or  more  high 
schools  or  junior  high  schools  as  in  their  opinion  may  be  necessary  and 
may  be  possible  through  local  taxation  funds. 

The  provision  of  one  or  more  county  high  schools  has  been  obligatory 
on  the  county  board  in  Kentucky,  with  the  option  that  arrangement  might 
be  made  instead  for  the  free  tuition  of  county  school  pupils  in  existing 
"high  schools  of  the  first  class.'  The  new  county  school  law  (iQ^o)  is 
silent  concerning  high  schools,  but  presumably  does  not  repeal  tlic  former 
provision.  The  Louisiana  parish  board  is  given  authority  to  establish 
such  public  schools  as  it  may  deem  necessary,  including  subject  to  the 
sanction  of  the  state  board  of  education  one  or  more  high  schools.  The 
powers  and  duties  of  the  Missouri  board  with  regard  to  high  schools  are 
full  and  explicit-  The  North  Carolina  law  makes  the  township  the  unit 
for  high  school  purposes,  the  high  schools  being  under  the  control  of  a 
high   school   committee   appointed  by   the   county   board. 

The  importance  placed  on  the  provision  of  secondary  instruction  in  tlie 
Utah  plan  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  each  portion  of  a  county  already 
organized  Into  a  "high  school  district"  was  permitted  to  become  a  "county 
school  district  of  the  first  class."  One  would  infer  from  the  hnv  an 
effort   to    simplify    school    administration   by   committing    to   one   board, 


16  THE    LAY    ELEMENT    IN    THE    INTERMEDIATE 

called  a  county  board,  the  functions  formerly  exercised  by  the  dual 
machinery  of  common  school  district  and  high  school  district  boards. 
Moreover,  the  law  contains  an  explicit  provision  granting  the  county 
board  power  "to  establish,  locate,  and  maintain  kindergarten  schools, 
common  schools  consisting  of  primary  and  grammar  grades,  high  schools 
and  industrial  or  manual  training  schools." 

Until  1921,  Tennessee  had  paralleled  its  county  board  with  a  county 
high  school  board  of  education  charged  with  the  administration  of  county 
high  schools,  the  power  to  establish  which  was  vested  in  the  county  court. 
By  a  sweeping  simplification  of  machinery,  (^)  however,  the  last  legis- 
lature abolished  the  county  high  school  board,  vested  its  functions  in  the 
county  board,  and  in  a  second  act  (-)  required  each  county  to  maintain  a 
first  class  high  school. 

Where  the  effort  to  provide  high  school  facilities  leads  to  the  organ- 
ization of  special  high  school  districts  with  separate  high  school  boards 
a  dual  system  of  administration  develops  that  is  admittedly  bad.  The 
co-ordination  of  the  work  of  elementary  and  high  schools  is  difficult 
enough  at  best.  It  seems  highly  desirable  that  a  single  intermediate  unit 
be  developed  capable  of  exercising  all  such  functions  as  seem  to  demand 
such  a  unit,  including  the  administration  of  secondary  schools. 

Perhaps  no  function  of  school  administration  more  fully  demands  the 
co-operation  of  lay  and  professional  officers  than  the  formulation  and 
prescription  of  a  course  of  study-  This  is  the  final  expression  of  edu- 
cational program  and  policy,  which  the  people  through  their  represen- 
tatives should  determine,  although  the  embodiment  of  this  program  into 
a  detailed  curriculum  demands  the  services   of  a  professional   expert. 

State  legislatures  have  tended  to  prescribe  what  must  be  taught,  thus 
serving  to  express  popular  desire.  The  necessity  of  entrusting  the  making 
of  the  course  of  study  to  some  agency  which  can  command  the  requisite 
professional  experts  and  the  authority  to  enforce  the  decisions  reached 
often  leads  to  the  prescription  of  state  wide  courses  of  study,  or  perhaps 
more  frequently  to  the  submission  of  suggested  syllabi  by  the  state 
departments.  Local  adaptation  is,  however,  almost  equally  necessary. 
Hence  the  frequency  with  which  this  function  is  entrusted  to  the  inter- 
mediate unit,  as  being  near  enough  the  actual  work  of  instruction  to 
know  the  needed  adaptations  and  supplied  with  a  professional  officer 
prepared  to  organize  a  general  program  into  a  detailed  curriculum. 

To  prescribe  a  course  of  study,  usually  on  the  recommendation  of  the 
county  superintendent,  is  explicitly  made  the  duty  of  the  county  board 
in  Alabama,  Delaware,  Florida,  and  Maryland  of  the  county  unit  states ; 
and  of  California,  Ohio,  Texas,  and  Washington  of  the  states  with 
limited  county  boards.  In  a  good  man}'  cases  the  statutes  are  silent  on 
the  subject  beyond  prescribing  a  list  of  subjects  which  shall  be  taught; 
in  a  few  instances  the  power  to  prescribe  the  course  is  conferred  on  the 

(1)     Acts   of   1921,    Chapter   120.    (2)Acts   of   1921,    Chaper   40. 


UNIT    OF   STATE    SCHOOL    SYSTEMS  17 

local  trustee ;  and  in  some  cases,  the  state  department  is  directed  to  issue 
a  course  that  shall  be  enforced  throughout  the  state.  Thus  the  county 
boards  of  South  Carolina  and  Utah  are  made  responsible  for  the  en- 
forcement of  the  state  course  of  study;  and  the  Nevada  county  board 
(with  the  single  function  of  providing  high  school  facilities)  is  required 
to  enforce  the  state  high  school  course  of  study. 

Closely  related  is  the  matter  of  the  selection  of  textbooks — likewise 
requiring  expert  professional  service,  with  probably  some  form  of  lay 
sanction.  State-wide  textbook  adoptions  are  very  common,  and  unlike 
state-wide  courses  of  study  are  usually  rigidly  enforced.  Little  can  be 
said  in  favor  of  state-wide  adoptions  as  a  means  of  securing  desirable 
textbooks.  It  is  argued  in  their  favor  that  they  secure  the  best  books  at 
low  prices,  that  they  avoid  inconvenience  and  expense  when  a  pupil  moves 
from  one  part  of  the  state  to  another,  and  that  they  eliminate  political 
interference  of  textbook  company  representatives  in  the  relation  of  local 
school  boards  and  superintendents. 

Where  state  adoptions  prevail,  the  enforcement  of  the  use  of  the  pre- 
scribed textbooks  is  frequently  made  a  duty  of  the  county  board  or  the 
county  superintendent.  The  county  boards  of  Delaware,  Georgia,  Iowa, 
Maryland,  and  Missouri  are  authorized  to  select,  on  the  recommendation 
of  the  county  superintendent,  the  textbooks  to  be  used  in  the  county.  In 
the  case  of  Delaware  the  selection  was  made  from  a  state  list  and  the 
textbooks  were  furnished  free  to  the  pupils.  The  Maryland  provision  is 
that  the  covmty  board  shall  purchase  and  distribute,  on  the  written  recom- 
mendation of  the  county  superintendent,  textbooks,  supplementary  read- 
ers, school  supplies,  etc.  Provision  of  free  textbooks  is  optional  with  the 
Missouri  board.  In  Iowa,  this  is  the  only  function  of  the  board,  except 
that  it  serves  as  an  advisory  board  to  the  county  superintendent. 

The  Indiana  county  board,  which  consists  of  the  county  superintendent, 
the  trustees  of  the  township  (which  are  the  local  school  units)  and  the 
chairman  of  the  school  trustees  of  each  city  and  town,  seems  to  have  this 
matter  of  selection  of  textbooks  as  its  chief  function.  It  also  "considers 
the  general  wants  and  needs  of  the  schools  and  school  property  and  all 
matters  relating  to  the  purchase  of  school  furniture,  books,  maps,  charts, 
etc.  Change  of  textbooks  (except  for  cities)  and  the  care  and  manage- 
ment of  township  libraries  shall  be  determined  by  such  boards."  In 
Wisconsin,  the  county  convention  of  school  directors  may  by  vote  adopt 
the  plan  of  county  uniform  textbooks,  in  which  event  "it  shall  be  the  duty 
of  said  school  board  convention  to  *  *  *  elect  a  county  board  of  educa- 
tion," to  be  composed  of  five  legally  qualified  teachers  of  at  least  five 
j'ears'  experience  in  teaching  or  supervision,  the  sole  function  of  which  is 
to  adopt  textbooks  for  the  county  This  county  board  of  education  must 
not  be  confused  with  the  Wisconsin  "county  committee  on  common 
schools"  which  deals  with  district  lines  and  appoints  supervisors. 

lyCss   frequently,   perhaps,    tiian   the   county   superintendent,    the   county 


18  THE   LAY   ELEMENT    IN    THE   INTEBMEDIATE 

boards  are  charged  with  the  performance  of  certain  duties  for  the  state. 
Under  certain  relations  between  the  board  and  superintendent  that  will 
be  noted  later  in  detail,  such  duties  are  usually  incumbent  on  the  board, 
although  performed  by  the  superintendent  as  its  executive  officer.  Thus 
in  Delaware  and  Maryland  the  county  board  is  required  to  forward  reports 
to  the  state  department.  The  county  board  is  made  responsible  for  secur- 
ing the  school  census  in  Alabama,  Louisiana,  Maryland  and  Utah.  A 
somewhat  similar  function  is  that  of  passing  on  controversies  and  dis- 
putes, or  of  passing  on  appeals,  as  one  of  a  series  of  tribunals,  which  is 
assigned  to  the  county  board  in  Delaware,  Georgia,  South  Carolina,  Ten- 
nessee, Texas,  and  Wisconsin. 

In  Alabama  and  South  Carolina  the  enforcement  of  the  compulsory 
attendance  law  is  made  specifically  the  duty  of  the  board,  while  in  Texas, 
Kentucky,  Missouri,  and  South  Carolina,  the  boards'  relation  to  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  attendance  law'S  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  attend- 
ance officers  are  selected  by  them,  as  less  specific  statements  seem  to 
authorize  the  county  board  to  do  in  other  states.  The  Georgia  county 
board  is  also  required  to  enforce  certain  statutory  provisions  concerning 
vaccination  in  connection  with  school  attendance.  The  provision  is  also 
common,  as  for  example  in  the  North  Carolina  code,  that  "the  county 
board  shall  have  pow-er  and  is  charged  with  the  duty  to  enforce  the  school 
laws,"  the  regulations  of  the  state  department  of  education  being  some- 
times added- 

A  dwindling  function  of  the  intermediate  unit,  particularly  as  far  as  its 
lay  element  is  concerned,  is  the  certification  of  teachers.  State  certifica- 
tion is  becoming  common,  and  even  where  the  issuance  of  county  certifi- 
cates is  still  legal,  fewer  teachers  apply  for  them.  Apparently  even  where 
the  county  superintendnet  is  the  "executive  officer"  of  the  county  board, 
the  professional  character  of  the  certification  of  the  teaching  force  is 
recognized  by  charging  the  professional  officer  rather  than  the  lay  board 
with  the  duty.  South  Carolina  is  an  exception.  Kansas  is  another,  but 
although  the  code  does  not  preclude  the  appointment  of  laymen  on  the 
board,  its  functions  in  general  suggest  a  board  of  teachers.  The  Califor- 
nia board  is  charged  with  examining  applicants  and  issuing  certificates, 
but  a  majority  of  the  board  is  required  to  hold  valid  certificates.  A 
number  of  states  provide  for  a  distinctly  professional  board,  apart  from 
the  county  board,  to  assist  the  county  superintendent  in  conducting  exam- 
inations for  applicants  for  both  county  and  state  certificates  and  to  grade 
papers  of  those  who  apply  for  the  former. 

Of  growing  importance,  perhaps,  is  the  relation  of  the  lay  board  func- 
tioning on  the  intermediate  level  to  the  provision  of  supervision  of  class- 
room instruction.  The  county  is  too  large  a  unit  for  school  supervision, 
in  many  states  at  least,  unless  there  is  provided  a  staff  of  supervisors  as 
opposed  to  a  single  officer.  Facts  secured  by  inquiry  to  the  state  depart- 
ments and  from  the  codes  are  assembled  in  Table  II,  and  indicate  the 


UNIT   OF   STATE    SCHOOL   SYSTEMS  19 

large  discretionary  powers  of  county  boards  in  this  matter.  For  example, 
in  Alabama  the  county  board  selects,  on  the  nomination  of  the  county 
superintendent,  "assistant  superintendents,  supervisors,  and  such  office 
force  as  may  be  necessary."  The  Kentucky  board  is  empowered  to 
appoint,  on  the  nomination  of  the  county  superintendent,  supervisory  and 
clerical  assistants,  including  one  attendance  officer.  The  county  board 
of  Ohio  divides  the  county  into  "supervision  districts,"  for  each  of 
which  the  presidents  of  the  boards  of  the  component  districts  elect  a 
supervisor  on  the  nomination  of  the  county  superintendent.  In  the  event 
the  presidents  of  the  district  boards  fail  or  refuse  to  elect,  the  county 
board  appoints  a  supervisor-  The  Oregon  board  has  as  one  of  its  chief 
duties  to  divide  the  county,  except  school  districts  of  the  first  class,  into 
supervisory  districts  of  from  20  to  50  school  districts,  and  to  employ 
supervisors  for  the  several  supervisory  districts,  who  arc  paid  out  of  the 
general  fund  of  the  county.  The  Texas  county  board  has  limited  power 
to  appoint  assistants  to  the  county  superintendent.  The  Utah  board  has 
power  to  "appoint  all  *  *  *  officers  that  in  its  judgment  may  be  neces- 
sary." The  Wisconsin  committee  on  common  schools  appoints  "super- 
vising teachers,"  on  nomination  of  the  county  superintendent.  The  com- 
mittee must  appoint  one  supervising  teacher ;  if  the  county  has  more  than 
125  schools,  it  may  appoint  two.  The  state  reimburses  the  county  for  the 
expenditures  for  the  supervising  teachers. 

Provision  through  the  county  board  is,  of  course,  only  one  of  the  plans 
in  use  for  providing  better  supervision.  California  puts  an  "emergency 
and  supervision"  fund  at  the  disposal  of  the  county  superintendent,  to  be 
used  in  part  for  this  purpose.  Washington,  though  it  has  a  county  board, 
is  seeking  to  secure  supervision  by  a  bonus  for  consolidation,  and  requir- 
ing the  consolidated  districts  to  employ  a  superintendent.  West  Vir- 
ginia has  no  county  board,  and  authorizes  the  joint  employment  of  district 
supervisors  by  tv.o  or  more  school  districts,  somewhat  as  is  done  in  New 
England.  Pennsylvania  and  other  states  with  no  county  board  arc  trying 
other  plans  more  similar  to  appointment  by  a  board. 

The  relation  of  the  county  board  to  the  county  superintendent  as  the 
chief  professional  officer  in  the  intermediate  unit  is  important,  not  only 
us  describing  one  important  function  of  several  county  boards,  but  as 
'ndicating  how  the  general  body  of  functions  will  tend  to  be  exercised. 


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24 


THE  LAY  ELEMENT  IN  THE  INTERMEDIATE 


TABLE  III.— RELATION  OF  COUNTY  BOARDS  AND  COUNTY 

SUPERINTENDENTS 


Supt.  is 

Supt.  is 

Supt.  ap 

Supt.  is 

board's 

board's 

Supt.  is 

Supt.  is 

points  or 

Board  is 

appointed 

executive 

secre- 

member 

chairman 

nominate.s 

advisory 

by  board 

officer 

tary 

of  board 

of  board 

board 

to  supt. 

Ala. 

Ala. 

Ala. 

Del. 

Fla. 
Ga. 

Ky. 

Ky. 

Ky. 

L^. 

Md. 

Md. 

Mo. 

Mo. 

Mo. 

N.  C. 

Tenn. 

N.  C. 
Tenn. 

Ctah 

Arlc. 

Ark. 

Ark. 
Cal. 

Cal. 
Ind. 
Iowa 

Ind. 
Iowa 

Iowa 

Kan. 
Miss. 

N.  Mex. 

Kan. 
Miss. 

N.  Mex. 

Kan. 
Miss. 

Ohio 

Ohio 

Ore. 

Ore. 

Ore. 

Ore. 

S.  C. 

S.   C. 

Tex. 

Tex. 

Va. 

Wash. 

Wash. 

W^ash. 

Wash. 

The  county  boards  in  Alabama,  Arkansas,  Delaware,  Kentucky,  Louis- 
iana, Missouri,  North  Carolina,  Ohio,  and  Utah  are  charged  with  the 
responsibility  of  selecting  the  cotmty  superintendent.  In  Alabama  and 
Missouri,  besides  selecting  him,  they  prescribe  his  duties  in  addition  to 
those  required  by  law,  and  fix  the  amount  of  his  salary.  He  is  described 
as  the  secretary  and  executive  officer  of  the  board,  is  present  at  all  its 
meetings,  but  is  not  allowed  to  vote.  In  Arkansas,  the  coimty  superin- 
tendent is  elected  by  the  county  board  "by  contract  in  the  same  manner 
as  local  boards  employ  teachers,"  and  serves  as  its  secretary  and  executive 
officer.  The  county  board  of  Delaware  appointed  as  its  executive  officer 
a  county  superintendent  of  schools  who  served  as  its  secretary.  The 
parish  board  of  Louisiana  elects  "a  superintendent  of  schools"  for  a 
term  of  four  years,  whose  relations  to  the  board  are  essentially  those  of 
a  city  superintendent  to  a  city  board,  thought  somewhat  more  explicitly 
prescribed  by  statute.  The  Maryland  county  superintendent  is  appointed 
by  the  county  board,  serves  as  its  executive  officer  with  the  right  to 
•advise  but  not  to  vote.  The  county  superintendent  in  North  Carolina  is 
appointed  by  the  county  board,  is  ex-officio  its  secretary,  and  reports  to 
it  each  month.  The  Ohio  county  superintendent  is  the  executive  officer 
of  the  county  board,  which  appoints  him  The  Utah  county  board  of 
education  appoints  biennially  a  superintendent  of  schools,  whose  work  is 
left  largely  to  their  direction. 

In  some  states  where  the  selection  of  the  county  superintendent  is  not 


UNIT    OF   STATE    SCHOOL   SYSTEMS  25 

lodged  with  the  county  board,  his  relation  to  it  is  still  defined  in  much 
the  same  terms.  In  Florida  and  Georgia  the  county  superintendent  is 
ex-officio  secretary  to  the  county  board.  He  is  described  as  both  secre- 
tary and  executive  officer  to  the  board  in  Tennessee.  Tlae  Texas  county 
board  is  required  by  statute  to  designate  the  county  superintendent  as  its 
secretary-  and  executive  officer. 

A  distinctly  different  relation  is  apparent  in  a  number  of  county  board 
states,  in  which  the  county  superintendent  is  a  member  of  the  board,  and 
frequently  an  ex-officio  chairman.  In  such  cases,  the  board's  relation  to 
the  county  superintendent  is  sometimes  described  as  "advisory."  The 
California  board  consists  of  the  county  superintendent  and  four  members 
appointed  by  the  county  board  of  supervisors,  the  superintendent  being 
ex-officio  secretary.  The  county  superintendent  is  a  member  of  the 
county  board  in  Indiana,  is  designated  by  statute  as  its  presiding  officer, 
and  is  allowed  a  vote.  In  Iowa  the  board  is  composed  of  six  members 
and  the  county  superintendent,  who  is  its  chairman,  and  as  one  of  its 
duties  acts  as  an  advisory  board  to  the  county  superintendent  and  co- 
operates with  him  in  formulating  plans  and  regulations.  In  Kansas,  where 
as  noted  above  the  board  is  chiefly  an  examining  body,  the  county  super- 
intendent is  chairman  and  nominates  the  other  members  to  the  county 
commissioners,  who  appoint.  He  is  a  member  and  ex-officio  chairman, 
in  Mississippi,  where  the  other  members  are  appointed  by  him.  In  New 
Mexico  the  county  superintendent  is  a  member  and  ex-officio  chairman. 
The  Oregon  county  superintendent,  under  the  general  law,  has  the  same 
relation,  plus  the  pov/er  of  appointing  the  other  members  who  constitute 
his  advisory  board.  The  South  Carolina  board  consists  of  three  members, 
one  of  whom  must  be  the  county  superintendent,  and  is  described  as  an 
advisory  board  with  whom  he  may  consult  when  in  doubt  as  to  his  offi- 
cial duty.  The  division  superintendent  is  ah^o  a  member  of  the  county 
board  in  Virginia.  In  Washington  the  county  superintendent  is  a  mem- 
ber, ex-officio  chairman,  and  appoints  the  other  members.  Besides  grad- 
ing the  manuscripts  of  applicants  for  elementary  school  diplomas  and 
adopting  textbooks,  the  board  functions  in  assisting  the  county  superin- 
tendent in  preparing  manuals,  etc.,  and  in  formulating  rules  and  regula- 
tions for  the  schools  of  the  county. 

In  states  in  which  no  county  boards  of  education  are  provided  the 
functions  discussed  in  the  foregoing  pages  are  disposed  of  (i)  by  vesting 
them  in  the  county  superintendent  as  an  independent  officer,  (2)  by 
making  no  provision  for  their  exercise  on  a  broader  scale  than  the  local 
school  district,  (3)  by  enlarging  the  state  school  administration  to  include 
some  of  them,  and  (4)  by  assigning  them  to  non-educational  county 
boards.  The  extent  to  which  the  first  of  these  possibilities  is  employed 
can  be  made  clear  only  by  a  detailed  .study  of  the  functions  of  the  pro- 
fessional officer  in  the  intermediate  iniit.  The  limited  possibility  of  the 
exercise   of    such   functions   by   the   local   district,   where   that   district   is 


26  THE   LAY    ELEMENT    IN    THE    INTEEMEDIATE 

merely  thetterritory  served  by  a  single  one-teacher  school,  is  sufficiently 
evident-  Their  exercise  by  state  departments  is  not  only  counter  to  deep 
seated  prejudices  of  many  American  communities,  but  retards  by  remov- 
ing occasion  the  development  of  an  intermediate  unit  of  school  adminis- 
tration capable  of  performing  the  co-operative  service  which  has  been 
suggested  as  one  of  the  growing  features  of  such  units. 

The  disadvantages  of  the  exercise  of  these  functions  by  non-educational 
boards,  such  as  the  board  of  supervisors  or  the  commissioners'  court,  are : 
1st,  that  such  boards  are  selected  primarily  for  other  duties  and  hence 
may  possess  small  fitness  for  these  tasks ;  2nd,  that,  being  engrossed  in 
other  county  business,  they  may  have  small  interest  in  school  matters, 
with  the  result  that  they  exercise  these  powers  over  the  schools  without 
a  careful  program  and  along  lines  of  "least  resistance"  or  political  expedi- 
ency; and  3rd,  that  the  system  fails  to  locate  responsibility  definitely 
enough  that  the  people  can  hold  the  officers  properly  accountable. 

The  following  study  of  the  allotment  of  these  powers  in  New  York 
illustrates  these  points  quite  clearly. 

The  intermediate  unit  in  New  York  state  school  administration  con- 
sists primarily  of  a  professional  officer  known  as  the  district  superinten- 
dent of  schools,  though  some  of  the  functions  considered  above  are  lodged 
elsewhere  in  whole  or  in  part.  The  territory  of  this  officer,  the  "super- 
visory district,"  consists  of  from  one  to  nine  towns,  usually  either  four  or 
five,  lying  within  a  single  county.  The  superintendent  is  chosen  by  a 
special  board  of  school  directors,  who  have  no  other  duty  to  perform. 
He  is  allov.'cd  a  salary  of  $1800  and  a  traveling  and  expense  account  of 
$600  by  the  state,  each  of  which  may  be  supplemented  by  the  county 
board  of  supervisors.  He  works  under  the  direction  of  the  Education 
Department,  the  Commissioner  of  Education  having  the  authority  to 
Vvithhold  his  salary  for  neglect  of  duty,  or  to  remove  him  from  office  for 
cause. 

The  functions  which  seem  most  truly  to  distinguish  the  "county  unit" 
and  the  "district  unit"  plans  of  school  administration  are  in  New  York 
largely  vested  in  the  district  officers,  although  the  district  superinten- 
dent has  some  part  in  each.  With  regard  to  teacher  selection,  the  authority 
is  clearly  placed  with  the  district  trustee  (275-8,  (^)  while  it  is  made 
the  duty  of  the  district  superintendent  "to  especially  advise  trustees 
relative  to  the  employment  of  teachers"  (395-4).  The  modification  of 
these  and  other  statutory  provisions  which  result  from  common  practice 
and  indicate  a  process  of  evolution  in  school  administration  are  made  a 
separate  study. 

The  erection  and  maintenance  of   school   houses   does  not  devolve   so 

(1)  References  in  parentheses  are  to  the  New  York  Education  Law  ag 
amended  to  July  1,  1920. 


UNIT    OF    STATE    SCHOOL   SYSTEMS  27 

completely  on  the  district  school  officer.  Designation  of  the  site  is  one 
of  the  powers  of  the  school  district  meeting  (206-7).  The  district  meet- 
ing also  votes  the  tax  for  erection  of  the  building  and  the  improvement 
of  the  site  (206-8),  in  connection  with  which  it  probably  exercises  con- 
trol over  the  building  plans-  However,  in  general  the  trustee  exercises 
all  the  usual  prerogatives  in  connection  with  providing  a  school  house, 
furniture,  and  apparatus,  and  keeping  the  same  in  repair.  (275-4,  5,  6,  14, 
IS,  16).  The  district  superintendent  is  charged  by  the  law  (395-4)  with 
the  duty  of  advising  with  and  counseling  trustees  in  relation  to  the  repair, 
construction,  ventilating,  heating  and  lighting  of  school  houses  and  im- 
proving and  adorning  the  school  grounds.  He  also  has  the  power,  pre- 
sumably as  the  representative  of  state  authority,  to  direct  the  trustees  to 
make  alterations  and  repairs  to  the  school  house  or  outbuildings,  not  to 
exceed  $200  in  any  one  year  (395-5)  ;  or  to  repair  or  replace  school  furni- 
ture, not  to  exceed  $100  in  any  one  year  (395-6)  ;  or  to  abate  any  nuisance 
in  or  on  the  school  grounds  (395-7)  ;  and  the  added  power  to  condemn  a 
school  outright   (395-8;  456). 

The  control  of  district  lines  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  district  super- 
intendent. He  sees  that  the  records  of  the  boundaries  are  properly  kept, 
and  are  complete  and  correct  (395-1)  ;  he  may  organize  new  districts  out 
of  the  territory  of  existing  districts  (121)  ;  he  may  dissolve  one  or  more 
school  districts  and  from  their  territory  form  a  new  one,  or  annex  it  to 
another  district  under  his  jurisdiction  (129)  ;  he  may  alter  the  boundaries 
of  districts  with  the  written  consent  of  the  trustees  of  the  districts 
affected,  or  of  the  board  of  education  in  the  case  of  a  union  free  district 
(123)  ;  if  the  trustees  or  boards  of  education  refuse  their  consent,  he  may 
file  an  order  making  the  alteration,  and  provide  a  hearing  at  which,  on 
demand  of  the  trustees  concerned,  the  town  supervisor  and  the  town 
clerk  may  sit  with  him  and  participate  in  the  decision  as  to  whether  the 
order  shall  be  confirmed  or  vacated  (124,  125)  In  any  of  these  cases  his 
actions  are  subject  to  review  by  the  State  Commissioner  of  Education. 

The  participation  of  the  supervisor  and  the  town  clerk  in  the  considera- 
tion of  the  district  superintendent's  action  concerning  alterations  in 
school  districts  is  a  clear  case  of  a  resort  to  non-educational  officers  for 
the  exercise  of  functions  of  school  administration. 

There  is  in  New  York  no  budgeting  or  taxing  for  school  purposes  on 
the  intermediate  level,  except  that  the  county  board  of  supervisors  may, 
in  its  discretion,  supplement  the  salary  paid  the  district  superintendent  and 
lay  a  tax  on  the  towns  composing  the  supervisory  district  to  provide  the 
necessary  money  (389-2)  ;  and  that  the  town  board  is  required  by  law  to 
employ  an  attendance  officer  and  to  fix  his  compensation,  "which  shall 
be  a  town  charge"  (632-2).  So  far  as  the  determination  of  the  amounts 
of  these  items  and  the  levying  of  the  corresponding  tax  constitutes  the 
making  of  a  budget,  the  function  is  exercised  by  non-educational  officers. 

The  apportionment  of  school  moneys  received  from  the  state  is  done 


28  THE    LAY   ELEMENT    IN    THE    INTEEMEDIATE 

by  the  district  superintendent  (134;  498),  and  seems  to  be  purely  clerical 
work,  since  his  distribution  to  the  districts  is  exactly  "as  shown  by 
the  certificate  of  the  Commissioner  of  Education  to  said  district  super- 
intendent." 

Of  the  correlation  of  the  schools  of  a  supervisory  district  into  a  system 
by  determining  the  scope  of  work  each  shall  undertake  and  arranging  for 
the  transfer  of  pupils,  nothing  is  done  except  by  the  district  meeting,  on 
the  initiative  of  the  local  officer  or  the  suggestion  of  the  district  super- 
intendent. The  local  trustee  can  determine  what  the  school  shall  teach. 
The  state  makes  large  contributions  to  the  maintenance  of  the  school,  but 
it  does  not  assume  to  limit  the  work  that  shall  be  undertaken  to  an 
amount  that  can  be  done  with  a  prospect  of  success.  It  allows  no 
"academic  quota"  to  a  school  whose  high  school  work  has  not  been  ap- 
proved (493-1,  2,  3,  4,  5)  ;  but  it  does  not  thereby  deny  permission  to  do 
academic  work.  In  general  the  withholding  of  the  "academic  quota"  tends 
to  control  the  amount  of  high  school  work  undertaken,  but  within  the 
elementary  school  there  is  no  limitation  on  the  amount  a  school  shall 
vmdertake. 

The  "contract  system,"  however,  is  apparently  well  devised  to  promote 
the  limitation  of  work  by  permitting  schools  with  small  numbers  of  ad- 
vanced pupils  to  contract  for  the  instruction  of  such  pupils  in  some  larger 
school  and  thus  make  possible  more  effective  work  for  the  lower  grades. 
The  decision  to  take  such  a  step  rests  with  the  school  district  meeting. 

The  transition  of  pupils  from  elementary  to  academic  schools,  an  im- 
portant phase  of  correlation,  is  administered  by  the  Education  Depart- 
ment through  the  "preliminary  examinations,"  for  the  local  conduct  of 
which  the  district  superintendent  is  largely  responsible. 

Little  has  been  done  in  New  York  to  provide  high  school  opportunities 
by  co-operation  or  inter-organization  of  the  local  districts.  Such  stronger 
districts  as  care  to,  provide  secondary  school  work.  When  this  work  has 
been  approved  by  the  Education  Department,  they  are  eligible  to  receive 
$50  annually  from  the  state  for  each  non-resident  academic  pupil  in 
attendance  from  a  district  not  maintaining  an  academic  department,  or 
who  has  completed  the  course  of  study  prescribed  for  the  school  in  the 
district  in  which  he  resides.  Under  certain  conditions  tuition  in  excess 
of  the  $50  may  be  charged,  in  which  case  it  is  a  charge  on  the  district 
from  which  the  pupil  comes.  In  the  case  of  an  excess  charge,  the  dis- 
trict may  designate  the  academic  school  which  the  pupil  must  attend, 
(^)  otherwise  each  pupil  attends  the  academic  school  of  his  choice.  Al- 
though apparently  without  more  explicit  authority  to  do  so  than  is  granted 
in  206-18,  some  districts  have  made  provision  for  the  transportation  of 
pupils. 


(1)  As  amended  by  "An  Act  to  Amend  the  Education  Law,  relative  to 
the  apportionment  of  public  moneys  for  the  instruction  of  non-resident 
academic  pupils,"  1921. 


UNIT   OF   STATE    SCHOOL   SYSTEMS  29 

For  several  years,  the  school  law  has  contained  provision  for  the  organ- 
ization of  "central  high  school  district"  (187  to  189-L),  after  the  plan 
common  in  a  number  of  states,  notably  California,  but  there  is  no  in- 
stance of  organization  under  it.  Such  a  central  high  school  would  be 
administered  by  a  board  composed  of  one  of  the  trustees  (or  sole  trustee) 
of  each  component  common  school  district  and  two  representatives  ap- 
pointed by  the  board  of  education  of  each  union  free  school  district 
included.  For  the  purposes  of  the  maintenance  of  its  common  school, 
each  component  district  would  continue  unchanged,  and  the  machinery 
for  the  administration  of  the  secondary  school  would  be  superimposed. 
The  composition  of  the  board  would  be  such  that  a  minimum  of  duplica- 
tion would  result. 

As  noted  above  the  people  have  not  chosen  to  employ  this  plant  of  pro- 
viding secondary  education.  The  organization  of  a  high  school  by  an  indi- 
vidual district,  with  the  expectation  of  receiving  the  quotas  for  non- 
resident pupils,  is  the  general  situation.  Although  by  this  plan  the  state 
makes  a  most  generous  contribution  for  affording  each  pupil  high  school 
opportunity,  it  represents  a  form  of  state  provision  in  which  many  local 
communities  are  purely  passive,  escaping  direct  support  of  secondary 
education  for  their  children  and  having,  even  since  the  recent  amendment, 
no  share  in  directing  and  controlling  it.  Further,  the  system  does  not 
establish  the  relation  between  elementary  and  secondary  schools  that 
exist  in  a  well  organized  city  school,  in  which  there  are  mutual  adapta- 
tions to  the  end  that  the  pupil's  time  may  be  conserved  and  by  which  he 
sees  before  him  a  continuous  road  to  high  school  graduation  with  the 
resultant  stimulation  to  aspire  to  it. 

Even  more  serious,  the  system  does  not  always  produce  an  adequate 
number  of  accessible  high  schools  or  guard  against  an  over-supply  of 
weak,  inefficient  high  schools  in  other  sections.  A  study  of  the  admin- 
istration of  high  schools  in  the  New  York  Rural  School  Survey  shows 
that  a  very  high  per  capita  cost,  inefficient  work,  and  a  very  limited 
offering  of  subjects  are  all  likely  to  characterize  the  small  high  school- 
New  York  would  undoubtedly  do  well,  while  continuing  the  present  large 
contribution  to  secondary  education  from  state  funds,  to  develop  a  unit 
of  school  administration  which  would  be  capable  of  regulating  the  num- 
ber and  character  of  high  schools,  and  in  the  control  of  which  all  of  the 
communities  from  which  the  pupils  come  would  have  part. 

So  far  as  the  certification  of  teachers  continues  in  New  York  to  be 
performed  by  any  authority  short  of  the  state  control,  it  is  made  the 
business   of  the  district  superintendent. 

The  function  of  prescribing  a  course  of  study  is  lodged  with  the  dis- 
trict trustee,  subject  to  certain  statutory  provisions  concerning  content 
(275-10)  ;  and  the  district  superintendent  has  no  power  under  the  statute 
beyond  coimseling  with  the  teachers  concerning  the  course  of  study  thus 
selected   (395-2).     Syllabi  issued  by  the  Education  Department  undoub^- 


30  THE   LAY    ELEMENT    IN    THE    INTERMEDIATE 

edly  determine  the  course  of  study  in  practically  all  cases,  not  only  be- 
cause of  the  prestige  and  authority  of  the  department,  but  because  all 
grade  and  preliminary  examinations  are  based  on  them.  Undoubtedly 
these  state  courses  of  study  need  local  adaptation,  but  it  is  seriously  to 
be  doubted  if  the  district  trustees,  a  lay  officer  whose  term  of  office  in 
those  districts  that  have  only  one  trustee  is  a  single  year,  is  fitted  for 
the  responsibility.  New  York  has  other  and  more  urgent  needs  for  an 
intermediate  school  unit  composed  of  lay  representatives  of  the  local 
community  and  an  associated  professional  officer,  but  such  a  unit  could 
render  real  service  in  the  solution  of  the  course  of  study  problem  as  well. 

In  the  matter  of  selection  of  textbooks,  the  statutes  are  of  less  signifi- 
cance than  current  practice-  Legally  the  district  meeting  is  charged  with 
this  highly  technical  professional  function  (670-1,  2),  except  in  the  single 
county  of  St.  Lawrence.  (^)  Fortunately  it  is  a  power  which  the  peo- 
ple forego.  In  actual  practice,  the  selection  is  probably  most  frequently 
made  by  the  teacher.  The  list  of  textbooks  in  use  in  the  school  of  the 
nearby  trading  center  is  for  reasons  of  convenience  frequently  used  in 
the  rural  schools.  In  very  small  schools,  where  there  are  only  one  or 
two  pupils  in  a  grade,  the  teacher  frequently  makes  shift  with  any  books 
of  the  proper  grade  that  the  pupil  brings  from  home.  In  reading,  supple- 
mental books  owned  by  the  school  lessen  the  disadvantages  of  such  a 
course.  The  office  of  the  district  superintendent  in  this  connection  is 
advisory  only  (395-4),  but  he  evidently  can,  when  he  seeks  to  do  so,  exert 
considerable  influence.  In  a  few  instances,  at  least,  the  district  superin- 
tendents of  a  county  have  united  in  issuing  a  recommended  list  with  the 
request  that  it  be  followed,  and  have  secured  co-operation  from  the  teach- 
ers and  approval  from  the  public. 

Besides  the  convenience  and  economy  of  that  part  of  the  public  that 
may  move  from  one  district  to  another,  there  is  a  distinct  educational 
advantage  in  uniformity  of  textbooks  in  most  subjects  in  such  territory 
as  has  the  supervision  of  instruction  in  common  and  mingles  its  students 
in  a  common  high  school.  This  unifcrmity  New  York  could  secure 
through  the  agency  of  such  an  intermediate  unit  as  has  been  described. 

The  Nevi^  York  plan  purports  to  seek  primarily  to  provide  supervision 
of  classroom  v.'ork.  This  is  the  duty  of  the  district  superintendent,  who 
has  been  charged  by  a  former  commissioner  of  education  to  let  the 
management  and  financial  affairs  of  the  district  alone  beyond  "friendly 
advice  and  counsel."  (2)  It  can  be  questioned  whether  supervision  can 
be  wholly  efficient  apart  from  administration.  Like  instruction,  which 
it  helps  to  produce  it  is  the  product  of  administration.  But  that  question 
aside,  does  the  New  York  plan  lend  itself  ideally  to  producing  a  program 
of  supervision? 


(1)  Laws  of  New  York  1913,    Chapter  653. 

(2)  Draper,  A.  S.:    "What  Is  Expected  of  District  SupedntQiKjents,"  Ad- 
(^ress,  November  28,    19H. 


UNIT   OF   STATE    SCHOOL   SYSTEMS  31 

The  district  superintendent  is  elected  by  a  board  of  school  directors 
who  function  in  no  other  way.  They  choose  a  single  officer,  regardless 
of  the  needs  of  the  supervisory  district.  If  the  salary  fixed  by  the  state 
is  not  sufficient  to  command  the  services  of  a  man  competent  to  meet 
the  demands  of  the  work,  the  board  of  school  directors  are  helpless. 
Whenever  the  office  is  more  than  an  $1800  position,  it  is  by  the  decision 
of  the  board  of  county  supervisors — distinctly  a  non-educational  board. 
(491-1,  2).  Not  even  the  board  of  supervisors  seem  from  the  law  to  have 
explicit  authority  to  equip  an  office  for  him,  or  to  employ  a  clerk,  or  to 
supplement  his  work  as  a  supervisor  by  employing  additional  supervisors. 
The  state  pays  his  traveling  and  office  expenses  (supplies  and  clerical 
help,  telephone  and  telegraph  tolls)  up  to  $600  a  year,  and  the  board  of 
supervisors  may  appropriate  funds  to  pay  for  "necessary  printing  and 
office  supplies."  (i)  If  this  is  inadequate  because  of  the  conditions  in 
the  district,  there  is  no  authority  anywhere  to  increase  it.  Like  county 
offices  in  general,  his  office  must  be  the  creation  of  detailed  statutory 
provisions,  with  no  single  power  vested  with  the  authority  to  permit 
modifications. 

This  inflexibility  in  the  office  is  emphasized  when  one  considers  the 
diversity  of  conditions  which  confront  the  district  superintendents  in 
the  different  parts  of  the  state.  Some  of  these  differences  are  involved 
in  the  size  of  the  districts.  Supervisory  districts  vary  in  size  from  57 
square  miles  to  1729,  and  in  number  of  teachers  to  be  supervised  from 
less  than  30  to  240  or  more-  Other  important  differences  effect  the 
character  of  the  work. 

Since  by  statute,  the  district  superintendent  is  the  professional  coun- 
selor of  the  administrative  officer  in  each  school  district,  his  work  is 
very  much  affected  by  the  number  of  school  districts  to  which  he  is 
related.  Cook  and  Monahan  (-)  rate  this  as  one  of  the  chief  factors  in 
determining  the  efficiency  with  which  such  an  officer  can  work,  and 
indicate  that  the  ideal  is  to  have  the  administrative  and  the  supervisory 
units  identical.  Table  IV  shov/s  the  differences  in  this  factor — surely 
sufficient  to  demand  some  recognition  if  there  were  an  authority  with 
power  to  make  adaptation.  There  is  a  vast  difference  between  dealing 
with  17  and  70  different  trustees.  In  more  than  half  of  the  cases,  the 
difference  is  relatively  small,  but  it  is  still  important  tliat  there  be  pro- 
vision for  the  exceptional  cases. 

Table  V  indicates  the  range  of  difference  in  the  school  population — a 
range  from  less  than  400  to  more  than  9300.  In  one-fourth  of  the  super- 
visory districts  the  number  of  children  between  five  and  18  years  of  age 
is  2,140  or  more,  with  20  supervisory  districts  containing  m.ore  than  2,900. 
The  s?imc  provision  for  school  supervision  tliat  is  made  in  the  40  cases 
with  less  than  1,100  children  can  not  I)c  adequate  in  tlicse. 


(1)  County  L;iw.s,  Section  12,  Subdivl.sion   31. 

(2)  Cook  &  Monahan;     "Rural  School  Supervision,"   p.   23, 


32 


THE    LAY    ELEMENT    IN    THE    INTEEMEDIATE 


TABLE     IV— SUPERVISORY     DISTRICTS    COMPOSED     OF 
BERS   OF   SCHOOL    DISTRICTS    (1) 


GIVEN     NUM- 


REGIONS  (2) 

Number  of  Districts 

I 

II 

III 

IV 

V 

VI 

VII 

Total 

17 

1 

1 

21-23 

1 

1 

24-26 

2 

2 

27-29 

1 

1 

30-32 

3 

1 

4 

33-35 

1 

2 

4 

36-38 

1 

2 

1 

1 

3 

9 

39-41 

3 

1 

5 

3 

13 

42-44 

5 

6 

8 

1 

2 

23 

45-47 

4 

4 

14 

1 

5 

1 

31 

48-50 

6 

5 

7 

3 

2 

1 

25 

51-53 

7 

5 

17 

2 

3 

2 

37 

54-56 

3 

2 

12 

3 

1 

1 

22 

57-59 

3 

2 

4 

4 

1 

4 

19 

60-62 

3 

3 

1 

2 

2 

12 

63-65 

1 

1 

1 

3 

68-68 

69-71 

1 

1 

Total 

16 

35 

32 

70 

16 

25 

14 

208 

Median 

39 

49.3 

49.2 

49.1 

55 

46.5 

57 

49.8 

(1)  Data   derived   from   the   Abstracts   of   Trustees'    Reports   for  1919-1920. 

(2)  Determined  on  the  basis  of  topography,  agricultural  pursuits,  and 
population.  Region  I  is  suburban  or  semi-urban  districts  in  the  vicinity  of 
New  York  City  and  other  cities  in  the  center  of  the  state;  II,  the  Hudson 
and  Mohawk  valleys;  III,  the  central  lakeshore  region;  IV,  southern  New 
York,  west  of  the  Catskills;  V,  the  Catskill  region;  VI,  the  Adirondacks; 
and  VII,  the  northern  lakeshore  section  and  the  St.  Lawrence  valley. 


TABLE    V— SUPERVISORY    DISTRICTS    CONTAINING    GIVEN    NUMBERS 
OF,  CHILDREN    5-18   YEARS   OF   AGE    (1) 


REGIONS 

Children 

I 

II 

III 

IV 

V 

VI 

VII 

Total 

300-  499 

1 

1 

700-  899 

1 

2 

7 

1 

5 

16 

900-1099 

3 

12 

5 

2 

1 

23 

1100-1299 

4 

2 

12 

1 

3 

22 

1300-1499 

2 

5 

11 

4 

4 

3 

29 

1500-1699 

2 

4 

7 

1 

4 

3 

21 

1700-1899 

3 

2 

7 

2 

2 

16 

1900-2099 

6 

1 

2 

3 

12 

2100-2299 

4 

5 

2 

1 

1 

1 

14 

2300-2499 

1 

3 

4 

2 

1 

11 

2500-2699 

1 

1 

2 

3 

1 

8 

2700-2899 

4 

2 

1 

1 

1 

9 

2900-3099 

1 

2 

1 

1 

1 

6 

3100-3299 

1 

1 

3300-3499 

1 

1 

2 

3500-3699 

1 

1 

3700-3899 

2 

1 

3 

3900-4099 

1 

1 

4300-4499 

1 

1 

4500-4699 

2 

1 

3 

4900-5099 

1 

I 

5500-5699 

1 

1 

6100  P2P9 

1 

1 

7100-7299 

1 

I 

7:500-7109 

1 

1 

7700-7H99 

1 

1 
1 

93U0-9499 

1 

Data  Lacking 

1 

1 

Totals 

16 

33 

32 

70 

IS 

•2.") 

14 

208 

Median 

4500 

1966 

2100 

1355 

1350 

1S50 

1500 

1619 

CI)     Data    derived    from    Abstracts    of    Trustees'    Reports,    1919-1920. 


UNIT   OF   STATE    SCHOOL   SYSTEMS 


33 


TABLE    VI— SUPERVISORY    DISTRICTS    OF    GIVEN 
SCHOLASTIC    POPULATION  (1) 


DENSITY    OF 


Children  per 
Square  mile 

REGIONS 

I 

II 

III 

IV 

V 

VI 

VII 

Total 

0-      .9 

1 

1 

1-    1.9 

1 

1 

2-    2.9 

1 

2 

3 

3-    3.9 

1 

1 

3 

10 

15 

4-    4.9 

3 

6 

1 

2 

1 

13 

5.    5.9 

1 

7 

5 

2 

3 

18 

6-    6.9 

3 

2 

17 

2 

3 

3 

30 

7-    7.9 

1 

1 

7 

3 

2 

14 

8-    8.9 

3 

2 

7 

1 

1 

3 

17 

9-    9.9 

3 

4 

10 

1 

1 

2 

21 

10-  10.9 

2 

2 

3 

1 

8 

11-  11.9 

2 

2 

2 

6 

12-  11.9 

3 

1 

2 

6 

13-  13.9 

3 

5 

2 

10 

14-  14.9 

2 

3 

1 

1 

7 

15-  15.9 

1 

2 

1 

1 

5 

16-  16.9 

1 

2 

3 

17-  17.9 

1 

1 

3 

5 

18-  18.9 

1 

2 

2 

5 

19-  19.9 

1 

1 

20-  29.9 

1 

1 

2 

21-  21.9 

1 

2 

1 

4 

26-  26.9 

3 

3 

30-  30.9 

1 

1 

32-  32.9 

1 

1 

33-  33.9 

1 

1 

37-  37.9 

1 

1 

45-  45.9 

1 

1 

59-  59.9 

1 

1 

73-  73.9 

1 

1 

95-  95.9 

1 

1 

07-107.9 

1 

1 

Data  lacking 

1 

1 

Total 

16 

35 

32 

70 

16 

25 

14 

208 

Median    ... 

31.5 

11.0 

13.2 

7.6 

5.8 

3.8 

7.0 

8.5 

(1)  Scliolastic  population,  as  in  Table  V.  divided  by  area  of  supervisory 
districts,  1.  e.,  aggregate  acreage  rendered  for  taxation  in  the  component 
towns  as  given  in  tlie  report  of  the  State  Tax  Commission  for  1918. 

TABLE    VII— SUPERVISORY    DISTRICTS    IN    WHICH    THE   TOTAL 
SCHOOL   EXPENDITURES   ARE   OF  GIVEN   AMOUNTS    (1) 


Thousands 

REGIONS 

of  Dollars 

I 

II 

III 

IV 

V 

VI 

VII 

Total 

0-  25 

1 

1 

25-  50 

2 

2 

6 

2 

3 

1 

16 

50-  75 

13 

6 

26 

4 

9 

6 

64 

75-100 

7 

13 

21 

7 

8 

6 

62 

100-125 

6 

5 

6 

2 

1 

20 

125-150 

3 

4 

3 

7 

1 

1 

1 

20 

150-175 

1 

1 

2 

1 

2 

7 

175-200 

1 

1 

200-225 

1 

1 

2 

225-250 

1 

1 

2 

250-275 

2 

1 

1 

4 

300-325 

2 

2 

325-350 

1 

350-375 

1 

500-525 

1 

525-550 

1 

575-600 

1 

600-625 

1 

750-775 

1 

Total 

16 

35 

32 

70 

16 

25 

14 

208 

Median  (2) 

312 

84 

90 

77 

_  82    _ 

70 

75 

84 

(1)  Data  derived   from   Abstracts   of   Trustees'    reports,    1919-1920. 

(2)  In   thousands   of  dollars. 


34  THE    LAY    ELEMENT   IN    THE   INTERMEDIATE 

Table  VI  shows  a  variation  that  also  demands  adjustment.  The  travel- 
ing expenses  of  a  supervisor  in  sparsely  settled  districts  will  certainly  be 
greater  than  those  of  one  where  the  population  is  dense  and  the  schools 
larger  and  close  together.  His  net  time  for  supervision,  after  deducting 
time  spent  on  the  road,  will  be  greatly  reduced.  Thickly  populated  dis- 
tricts can  well  afford  to  provide  intensive  supervision  by  the  use  of  a 
staff  of  specialists  covering  the  same  territory.  Time  and  travel  costs 
in  thinly  settled  districts  make  this  plan  an  impossibility  and  demand  a 
supervisor  who  can  render  assistance  to  the  teacher  in  any  phase  of  the 
work.  The  retention  under  the  New  York  law  of  unusually  large  centers 
of  population  (all  under  4,500)  in  the  general  system  of  rural  school 
supervision  makes  the  need  for  adaptability  peculiarly  acute. 

Table  VII  is  closely  related  to  the  two  immediately  preceding.  The 
total  of  school  expenditure  in  supervisory  districts  ranges  from  less  than 
$25,000  to  more  than  $750,000.  In  half  the  districts  these  expenditures  are 
less  than  $85,000,  but  in  25  supervisory  districts  they  are  $150,000  or  more. 
It  is  the  function  of  the  district  superintendent  to  advise  the  local  trus- 
tees and  boards  about  all  the  matters  which  these  expenditures  represent. 
If  this  duty  is  performed  in  any  adequate  way,  one  would  expect  that  a 
different  type  of  ability  would  be  demanded  in  district  superintendents 
where  the  business  interests  of  the  schools  assume  large  proportions,  and 
that  provision  would  need  to  be  made  for  them  to  devote  larger  time  to 
such  matters. 

Legally  the  relation  of  the  district  superintendent  to  the  strong  dis- 
tricts which  maintain  academic  schools  is  the  same  as  to  any  other.  He 
is  with  them,  as  with  the  single  teacher  school,  the  professional  officer 
responsible  for  the  character  of  instruction  given.  Indeed  as  the  only 
connecting  link,  except  the  state's  general  overhead  control,  between  the 
small  rural  schools  and  the  village  academic  schools  which  their  gradu- 
ates attend,  his  relation  ought  to  be  very  close.  The  var>ang  extent  to 
which  the  supervision  of  academic  schools  is  a  phase  of  the  work  of  the 
district  superintendents  is  shown  in  Table  VIII.  ,  Six  district  superin- 
tendents have  no  academic  schools  under  their  supervision ;  two  have 
nine  with  25^  and  44J/2  academic  teachers  reported ;  another  has  13  with 
a  total  of  56  academic  teachers.  In  the  latter  case  a  complete  plan  of 
supervision  might  well  include  one  specialist  devoting  much  of  his  time 
to  the  supervision  of  academic  schools-  But  before  such  obvious  sugges- 
tions can  be  put  into  effect,  some  educational  authority  permitted  to 
exercise  discretion  in  enlarging  or  modifying  the  provision  for  school 
supervision  is  necessary,  as  is  now  done  in  so  many  states. 

This  matter  of  vesting  somewhere  short  of  the  legislature  the  authority 
to  increase  or  modify  the  provision  for  rural  school  supervision  needs  to 
be  considered  from  another  viewpoint.    How  much  supervision  is  needed? 

The  view  is  not  infrequently  expressed  that  the  rural  school  problem 
would  be  solved  if  a  sufficient  number  of  sufficiently  well  trained  teach- 


UNIT    OF    STATE    SCHOOL    SYSTEMS 


35 


TABLE     VIM— DISTRICT     SUPERINTENDENTS     WHO     HAVE     SUPERVI- 
SION   OF    GIVEN     NUMBERS    OF    ACADEMIC    SCHOOLS     (1) 


REGIONS 

Academic  Schools 

I 

II 

III 

IV 

V 

VI 

VII 

Total 

0 

3 

1 

1 

1 

6 

1 

1 

9 

3 

7 

4 

6 

1 

31 

2 

11 

6 

19 

7 

3 

2 

48 

3 

3 

8 

10 

25 

1 

8 

6 

61 

4 

4 

1 

8 

10 

2 

4 

4 

33 

5 

2 

4 

2 

6 

2 

1 

17 

6 

3 

1 

2 

1 

1 

8 

8 

1 

1 

9 

2 

2 

13 

1 

1 

Total 

16 

35 

32 

70 

16 

25 

14 

208 

Number  of  Aca- 

demic Schools 

85 

93 

87 

202 

35 

68 

44 

614 

(1)     Data  derived  from  Statistical  Reports  Relating  to  the  Apportionment 
of  Public  Money,  1919-1920. 


ers  were  available.  The  statement  comes  near  being  the  deadly  obvious. 
But  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that,  social  conditions  remaining  about 
as  at  present,  a  large  part  of  the  teaching  staff  in  the  rural  schools  will 
remain  as  today  young  girls,  relatively  untrained,  soon  to  be  married. 
Tenure  in  a  given  position  will  be  brief,  because  of  the  considerable  num- 
ber of  young  women  who  leave  the  schools  each  year  to  be  married,  many 
are  those  who  by  virtue  of  a  few  years'  experience  have  won  the  right  to 
teach  in  rather  better  than  average  schools.  With  free  competition  among 
the  schools  of  the  locality,  the  vacancies  they  leave  produce  a  whole  series 
of  shifts  in  position  and  the  process  tends  to  be  repeated  endlessly.  A 
large  improvement  in  the  general  level  of  training  and  tenure  in  the 
rank  and  file  of  rural  teachers  will  come  slowly  indeed. 

Many  industrial  employers  face  the  same  situation.  Their  effort  at 
a  solution  has  been  intensive  training  for  a  brief  period,  followed  by  a 
system  of  guidance  and  training  in  service  that  takes  into  account  the 
deficiencies  in  the  preliminary  training  of  the  employees.  The  parallel 
with  school  administration  is  evident.  By  utilizing  a  part  of  that  por- 
tion of  the  teaching  staff  that  has  adequate  training,  experience,  and 
professional  vision,  supervision  can  be  modified  and  extended  almost  at 
will.  When  this  possibility  is  considered  in  connection  with  the  fact 
that  supervision  has  been  all  but  lacking  in  the  rural  schools  of  many 
states  in  the  past,  it  would  seem  that  it  is  the  point  of  primary  attack  in 
any  effort  to  improve  rural  school  conditions- 
Tables  IX  and  X  give  some  idea  of  the  amount  of  supervision  the 
classroom  instruction  in  New  York  rural  schools  received  in  1919-1920. 
There  are  indications  that  this  is  somewhat  increased  since  the  state  has 
allowed  a  larger  expense  account  to  the  district  superintendents.  Un- 
fortunately the  statistical  information  docs  not  reduce  the  statements 
of  number  of  "inspections"  as  the  term  is  used  to  the  actual  unit  of 
supervision.      The    number    of    inspections    is    reported    by    the    principal 


36 


THE    LAY    ELEMENT    IN    THE    INTEEMEDIATE 


teacher,  if  there  be  more  than  one,  so  that  an  inspection  is  thought  to 
mean  a  visit  to  a  school,  whether  one  or  more  classrooms  are  visited. 
However,  since  in  the  great  majority  of  cases,  except  in  the  suburban 
region,  the  schools  are  one-teacher  schools,  the  figures  are  not  very  mis- 
leading. 


TABLE    IX— SUPERVISORY    DISTRICTS    IN    WHICH    THE    DISTRICT   SU- 
PERINTENDENT   MADE     CERTAIN     AVERAGE     NUMBERS    OF 
INSPECTIONS    PER   SCHOOL    DISTRICT    (1) 


REGIONS 

Av.  No.  Inspections 

per  District 

I 

II 

III 

IV 

V 

VI 

VII 

Total 

.5-  .9 

1 

1 

2 

1.0-1.4 

1 

1 

2 

1.5-1.9 

1 

7 

1 

4 

7 

4 

1 

25 

2.0-2.4 

2 

7 

2 

12 

4 

5 

1 

33 

2.5-2.9 

2 

7 

8 

26 

2 

2 

3 

50 

3.0-3.4 

3 

5 

9 

16 

2 

6 

41 

3.5-3.9 

3 

3 

5 

8 

3 

2 

24 

4.0-4.4 

1 

3 

4 

3 

2 

3 

16 

4.5-4.9 

1 

2 

2 

1 

6 

5.0-5.4 

1 

1 

1 

2 

5 

5.5-5.9 

1 

1 

6.0-6.4 

1 

1 

6.5-6.9 

7.0-7.4 

1 

1 

2 

Total 

16 

35 

32 

70 

16 

25 

14 

208 

Median 

3.5 

2.7 

3.3 

2.9 

2.0 

2.9 

4.0 

2.9 

(1)    Data   derived   from   Abstracts   of   Trustees'    Reports,    1919-1920. 


TABLE    X— TOTAL    NUMBER    OF   SCHOOL    DISTRICTS    IN    THE   SUPER- 
VISORY   DISTRICTS    IN    WHICH    THE    AVERAGE    NUMBER 
OF    INSPECTIONS   WAS   LESS   THAN   1,   LESS 
THAN   2,   LESS  THAN   3,   ETC.    (1) 


Average  No.  of 

REGIONS 

Inspections 

I 

II 

III 

IV 

V 

VI 

VII 

Total 

Less  than  1 
Less  than  2 
Less  than  3 
Less  than  4 
Less  than  5 
Less  than  6 
6  or  more 

51 
241 
436 
504 
590 

17 

61 
391 
1148 
1508 
1732 
1732 

56 

568 

1262 

1523 

1570 

206 
2125 
3232 
3420 
3420 

451 
752 

857 
857 
857 

46 

293 

656 

1024 

1110 

1132 

71 
267 
381 
550 
656 
117 

107 
1519 
5557 
8700 
9696 
9957 

134 

(1)     Data   derived   from  Abstracts   of  Trustees'    Reports,    1919-1920. 


Table  IX  shows  that  two  district  superintendents  did  not  succeed  in 
visiting  each  of  their  schools  in  the  course  of  the  year;  the  average  in 
these  cases  was  less  than  one  visit  per  school  district.  Two  other  super- 
intendents did  not  get  half  around  the  second  time.  In  25  supervisory 
districts  the  average  was  less  than  two.  In  half  the  supervisory  districts 
of  the  state,  the  superintendents  visited  their  schools  less  than  three 
times  on  the  average.  In  only  16  districts  was  the  average  number  of 
inspections  as  many  as  4.5,  or  one  visit  in  two  months. 

Table  X  presents  the  same  facts  in  terms  of  the  number  of  school  dis- 
tricts for  which  the  several  averages  apply.  There  were  107  school  dis- 
tricts in  the  supervisory  districts  where  the   superintendents'  inspections 


UNIT   OF   STATE    SCHOOL   SYSTEMS  37 

averaged  less  than  one  per  district.     Only   134  school  districts   received 
supervisory  visits  as  often  on  the  average  as  once  in  six  weeks. 

How  New  York  compares  with  other  states  in  this  regard  can  be  only 
roughly  estimated  from  the  data  available.  (See  last  column  of  Table  II, 
page  20  fif).  It  should  be  remembered  that  the  provision  of  clerical  help 
frees  the  superintendent  for  supervision,  and  that  in  general  the  class- 
room is  the  unit  to  be  considered.  It  is  also  evident  that  a  single  super- 
visory assistant  freed  from  the  miscellaneous  duties  that  devolve  upon  a 
single  officer  will  more  than  double  the  amount  of  actual  super\-ision 
that  can  be  accomplished.  Taking  these  facts  into  consideration,  it 
would  seem  that  several  states  have  made  more  effective  provision  for 
rural  school  supervision  than  has  New  York.  Certainly  a  large  number 
of  states  has  made  the  program  subject  to  enlargement  in  response  to 
need  and  popular  understanding  of  the  problem.  Its  failure  to  do  this  is 
perhaps  the  greatest  weakness  of  the  New  York  plan. 

Other  factors  to  be  considered  are  the  matters  of  the  length  of  these 
visits  and  the  attitude  of  the  supervisor  in  his  work.  From  weekly  re- 
ports of  some  of  the  district  superintendents,  it  is  evident  that  at  certain 
seasons  of  the  year  particularly  their  visits  are  very  brief — frequently  as 
many  as  six  or  seven  in  a  day.  With  the  time  for  travel  considered,  the 
actual  visit  must  be  very  brief  indeed.  The  same  reports  make  it  clear 
that  some  of  the  visits  are  purely  "inspections,"'  the  term  the  New  York 
superintendent  always  uses  in  his  reports.  He  calls,  checks  up  the  at- 
tendance as  shown  by  the  teacher's  register,  sees  that  the  register  is  being 
properly  kept,  inspects  the  building,  outhouses  and  library,  frequently 
delivers  to  the  teacher  bulletins  or  manual  sent  out  from  the  state  depart- 
ment, and  hurries  on  to  the  next  school.  Not  all  his  visits  are  like  this, 
but  part  of  those  that  make  up  the  average  just  considered  certainly  are- 

Besides  the  matter  of  approving  a  course  of  study  and  the  selection  of 
textbooks,  two  or  three  other  matters  of  a  purely  administrative  nature 
seem  in  New  York  to  demand  the  attention  of  a  more  fully  developed 
intermediate  unit.  The  law  now  provides  for  the  appointm.ent  of  an 
attendance  officer  for  each  town  by  the  town  board,  which  is  composed  of 
the  supervisor,  three  justices,  and  the  town  clerk.  This  board  also  fixes 
his  compensation.  The  appointment  is,  however,  subject  to  the  wirtten 
approval  of  the  district  superintendent,  and  the  officer  is  removable  by 
him.     (632-3). 

The  supervision  of  the  enforcement  of  the  compulsory  attendance  law- 
is  a  large  part  of  the  work  of  the  district  superintendent,  and  his  relation 
to  the  attendance  officer  should  be  cleariy  that  of  a  chief  to  a  subordi- 
nate. This  relation  would  be  more  easily  maintained  if,  instead  of 
merely  exercising  a  veto  power,  the  district  superintendent  nominated  the 
officer  and  some  educational  board  approved  the  nomination.  More 
serious  is  the  intervention  of  a  non-educational  board  in  this  important 
function    of    school    administration,.      New    York    educational    authorities 


38  THE   LAY   ELEMENT    IN    THE    INTEEMEDIATE 

have  been  foremost  in  insisting  that  educational  administrative  machinery 
must  be  separate  and  distinct  from  local  political  machinery.  This  doc- 
trine the  courts  have  sustained  with  reference  to  urban  school  adminis- 
tration in  more  than  one  instance.  To  quote  a  recent  utterance  of  Acting 
Commissioner  Frank  B.  Gilbert  (^)  will  indicate  the  spirit  and  scope  of 
the  doctrine. 

"The  people's  cause  of  public  education  will  be  best  served  by  holding 
fast  to  the  sound  educational  doctrines  that  our  public  schools  are  state 
institutions  established  by  the  state,  and  maintained  jointly  by  the  state 
and  the  school  districts,  as  a  separate  political  subdivision,  for  state  pur- 
poses. The  application  of  this  doctrine  demands  the  recognition  of 
boards  of  education  as  state  agencies-  The  proper  exercise  of  their  offi- 
cial functions  demands  that  they  have  the  exclusive  power  to  determine 
educational  policies,  and  to  fix  the  amount  which  will  be  expended,  rea- 
sonably, for  school  administration.  They  should  be  held  responsible  to 
the  people  for  any  failure  to  provide  the  facilities  which  are  requisite  for 
the  children's  instruction  and  they  must  account  to  them  for  extravagant 
and  useless  expenditures  and  for  lack  of  economy  and  evils  of  adminis- 
tration." 

The  application  of  this  principle  to  the  rural  school  administration  has 
never  been  made  with  completeness,  as  the  foregoing  pages  show.  To 
apply  it,  it  would  be  necessary  to  institute  a  system  of  school  adminis- 
tration complete  enough  to  provide  for  the  appointment  of  attendance 
officers  by  an  educational  authority ;  to  assign  to  the  same  authority  the 
large  control  over  the  district  superintendent's  salary  now  possessed  by 
the  board  of  supervisors ;  and  to  remove  from  the  supervisor  and  the 
town  clerk  possibly  to  the  same  authority  the  hearing  of  protested  cases 
in  changes  in  school  district  territory.  The  present  allotment  of  these 
functions  is  undoubtedly  determined  by  the  lack  of  school  administration 
machinerj'  capable  of  dealing  with  them.  They  would  all  belong  naturally 
to  a  fully  developed  intermediate  unit. 

Another  administrative  matter  demanding  the  services  of  such  a  unit  is 
that  of  medical  inspection  and  health  v,ork.  At  present  provision  for  this 
is  made  by  the  trustee  of  each  local  district  acting  independently  (310-21). 
As  shown  by  the  study  of  medical  inspection  made  in  the  Rural  School 
Survey,  there  is  great  diversity  of  cost  and  service.  Economy  and  effi- 
ciency would  undoubtedly  be  promoted,  and  more  consistent  results  se- 
cured if  some  educational  authority  acting  for  all  the  school  districts  of 
a  town  or  a  supervisory  district  made  arrangement  for  this  work,  re- 
muneration and  service  to  be  consistent  throughout  the  territory. 

New  York's  recent  effort  to  make  physical  education  available  for  all 
of  the  children  of  the  state  has  been  most  ambitious  and  worthy.  It 
ought  to  have  succeeded.  The  law  was  so  amended  in  1920,  however,  as 
to  make  it  the  duty  of  the  regular  classroom  teacher  to  give  the  instruc- 
tion in  schools  of  fewer  than  ten  teachers;  and  by  a  second  amendment 


(1)  Gilbert.  Frank  B.:  "Financial  Independence  of  Boards  of  Education," 
an  address  before  tiie  Association  of  School  Boards  and  Trustees,  Auburn, 
N.    Y.,   January   23.   1920.      (Pamphlet,    University   of   New   York). 


UNIT   OF   STATE    SCHOOL   SYSTEMS  39 

in  1921,  in  schools  of  fewer  than  20  teachers.  Prior  to  the  1920  amend- 
ment, the  law  was  put  into  effect  by  the  joint  employment  of  a  physical 
education  teacher  by  the  local  school  districts-  It  was  an  exceedingly 
inconvenient  procedure,  by  which  the  district  superintendent  had  to  carry 
a  contract  around  to  all  of  the  trustees  concerned  for  signatures  and 
agreement  to  the  proportion  of  cost,  etc.,  with  the  possibility  that  any 
trustee  who  chose  to  be  hard  to  please  could  delay  the  procedure  greatly 
and  all  but  defeat  the  program.  If  there  had  been  a  supervisory  district 
board  to  which  the  administration  of  the  law  might  have  been  entrusted, 
the  probabilities  of  success  would  have  been  greater.  At  present,  there  is 
need  for  intensive  supervision  of  the  work  done  by  the  regular  teachers 
in  physical  education,  whose  preparation  has  been  limited  in  most  cases  to 
attendance  on  a  few  physical  education  conferences.  Indeed,  new  sub- 
jects are  introduced  into  the  curriculum  quite  as  easily  and  frequently 
by  provision  of  special  supervision — including  guidance  and  training  in 
service — as  by  the  use  of  special  instructors. 

The  hearing  of  appeals,  one  of  the  functions  frequently  assigned  the 
intermediate  unit  as  a  link  in  the  system  of  school  administration,  is  to 
the  extent  of  taking  testimony  and  assembling  evidence,  a  function  of 
the  district  superintendent. 

To  the  writer,  this  review  of  New  York  practice  with  regard  to  the 
functions  frequently  exercised  by  a  lay  board  with  an  associated  profes- 
sional officer  on  the  intermediate  level  clearly  indicates  a  need  for  such 
administrative  machinery.  Some  agency  must  systematize  and  correlate 
the  schools,  provide  high  school  opportunity  and  adequate  supervision, 
and  administer  newer  educational  activities  which  the  local  district  can- 
not deal  with  effectively.  New  York  must  choose  between  seeing  the 
state  department  exercise  a  larger  power,  and  control  an  increasing  num- 
ber of  matters  of  school  administration ;  and  providing  semi-local  admin- 
istrative machinery   fitted  to  perform  these  tasks. 


40  THE   LAY    ELEMENT    IN    THE   INTEEMEDIATE 

PUBLICATIONS    TO   WHICH    CITATIONS    ARE    MADE 

Cook,  Katherine  M.,  and  Monahan,  A.  C.  :Rural  School  Supervision.  U.  S. 
Bureau   of   Education:    Bulletin,    1916.    No.    48. 

Draper,  A.  S. :  What  Is  Expected  of  District  Superintendents,  in  "Addresses 
before  the  Rural  Education  Association  of  New  York  State  Teachers'  As- 
sociation, Albany,  November  28,  1911."  Albany.  New  York  State  Educa- 
tion Department,   1912. 

Gilbert,  Frank  B.:  Financial  Independence  of  Boards  of  Education,  an  ad- 
dress before  the  Association  of  School  Boards  and  Trustees,  at  Auburn, 
N.   Y.,   January   23,    1920.     Pamphlet,    University   of  New   York. 

SCHOOL    CODES.    COMPILATIONS    OF    SCHOOL    LAWS,    SUPPLEMENTS 
TO  SUCH    PUBLICATIONS  AND  SEPARATE    LAWS    EXAMINED. 

Alabama — General  Public  School  Laws,  March  1,  1919.     State  Department  of 

Education. 
Arizona — The   School  Laws  of  Arizona,   1919.     C.   O.   Case,   Superintendent  of 

Public  Instruction. 
Arizona — Senate    Bill    No.    104,    1921.      An    Act    to    provide    for   county    educa- 
tional organization,  county  boards  of  education,  and  county  school  officers. 
Arkansas — Digest  of  Laws  Relating  to  Free  Schools  in   the   State  of  Arkan- 
sas,  1920.     Department  of  Public   Instruction. 
California — School    Law    of    California,    1919.      Office    of    Supeiintendent    of 
Public   Instruction. 

California — Senate  Bill  No.  310,  1921.  An  act  to  amend  sections  *  *  * 
of  the  Political  Code  of  the  State  of  California  relating  to  schools  and 
school  revenues. 

Colorado- — The  School  Laws  Annotated  of  the  State  of  Colorado,  as  amended 
to  date,  June  30,  1917.  Mary  C.  C.  Bradford,  State  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction. 

Colorado — Educational  Laws  Passed  b5^  the  Twenty-second  General  Assem- 
bly. 1919.  Mary  C.  C.  Bradford.  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion. 

Connecticut — Laws  Relating  to  Schools  Passed  at  the  1917  Session  of  the 
General  Assembly.  1917.  Connecticut  School  Document  No.  8,  1917 
(Whole  No.  417). 

Connecticut — Law.-^  Relating  to  Schools,  VyZf).  Connecticut  School  Document 
No.    3,    1920.      (Whole   No.    439). 

Delaware — Delaware  School  Code,  1920.  By  authority  of  the  Secretary  of 
State. 

Delaware — The  School  Laws  of  Delaware  as  Enacted  by  the  General  As- 
sembly. 1921.  An  act  to  provide  for  the  establishment  and  maintenance 
of  a  general  and   efficient  system   of  free   public  schools. 

Georgia — Georgia  School  Code,  1919.  Department  of  Education,  M.  L.  Brit- 
tain.   St.^te   Superintendent   of  Schools. 

Florida — Digest  of  the  School  Laws  of  the  State  of  Florida,  1915.  Compiled 
by  W.    N.    Shcats.    Superintendent   of    Public   Instruction. 

Florida — Laws  Relating  to  Education  Enacted  bv  the  Florida  Legislatures  of 
1917  and  1919.  Compiled  by  W.  N.  Sheats,  State  Superintendent  of  Pub- 
lic  Instruction. 

Idaho — Compilation  of  Laws  pertaining  to  the  State  Board  of  Education 
and  the  Educational  Institutions  of  the  State  of  Idaho.  Effecive  April 
1,    1919.      Idaho   Bulletin   of  Education,    Vol.    V.   No.    7,    1919. 

Idaho — General  Laws  of  the  State  of  Idaho  Passed  at  the  Extraordinary 
Session  of  the  State  Legislature,  1920.  By  authority  of  the  Secretary 
of  State. 

Illinois — The  School  Law  of  Illinois  as  Amended  by  the  Fiftieth  General 
Assembly.  1917.  Compiled  by  .7.  C.  Thompson,  under  the  direction  of 
Francis    G.    Blair,    Superintendent    of   Public    Instruction. 

Illinois^ — The  School  Law  of  Illinois  Enacted  by  the  Fifty-first  General  As- 
sembly. 1919.  Is.sued  bv  Francis  G.  Blair.  Superintendent  of  Public  In- 
struction   (Circular  No.    13S;). 

Indiana — Laws  of  Indiana  Relating  to  the  Public  School  System,  1917.  Pre- 
pared under  the  direction  of  Howard  Ellis.  State  Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction. 

Indiana — School  Laws  Enacted  by  the  General  Assembly  of  1919.  A  supple- 
ment to  the  School  Laws  of  Indiana.  1917  Edition.  1919.  Prepared  under 
the  direction  of  Linnaeus  N.  PTines.   Superintendent  of   Public  Instruction. 

Iowa — School  Laws  of  Iowa,  Edition  of  1915.  A.  M.  Deyoe,  Superintendent 
of  Pviblic  Instruction. 

Iow.a — School  Laws  of  Iowa,  from  Code  of  1897,  the  Supplement  to  the  Code, 
1913.  and  the  Supplemental  Supploi-nent.  liLS,  with  the  Acts  of  the  Thirty- 
seventh  and  Thirty-eighth  General   Assemblies.  1919.     The   State  of  Iowa. 

Iowa — Recent  Scliool  Legislation,  May  28,  1917.  State  of  Iowa.  Department 
of  Pub'ir  Instruction. 

Kansas — Laws    Relating   to    Education.    Session    of    1919.      State    of    Kansas, 


/ 


UNIT    OF   STATE    SCHOOL   SYSTEMS  41 

Department  of  Education. 

Kansas — L^ws  Relating  to  the  Common  Schools  of  Kansas,  including  offi- 
cial opinions  and  suggestions  to  school  officers.  1920.  Compiled  under  the 
direction  of  Lorraine  Ellizabeth  VVooster,  State  Superintendent  of  Pub- 
lic Instruction. 

Kentucky — Common  School  Laws  of  Kentucky,  1918.  V.  O.  Gilbert,  Super- 
intendent  of    Public   Instruction. 

Kentucky — ^County  School  Administration  Law,  1920.  George  Calvin,  Super- 
intendent of  Public   Instruction. 

Louisiana — Public  School  Laws  of  Louisiana  and  Sanitary  Regulations  of 
the  State  Board  of  Health.     Eleventh  Compilation.   1919. 

Louisiana — Public  School  Laws  of  Louisiana  Enacted  by  the  General  As- 
sembly of  1920.  (Supplement  to  the  Eleventh  Compilation  of  School 
Laws). 

Maine — Laws  of  Maine  Relating  to  Public  Schools,   1919. 

Maryland— The  Public  School  Laws  of  Maryland,  as  contained  in  the  Code 
of  Public  General  Laws  of  1912  and  the  Acts  of  the  Assemblies  of  1912, 
1914,  1916,  and  1918.     The  State  Board  of  Education. 

Maryland — ^Synopsis  of  Laws  Enacted  by  the  State  of  Maryland,  Legislative 
Session,  1920.  Compiled  by  Horace  E.  Flack,  Department  of  Legislative 
Reference,    Baltimore. 

Massachusetts — Revised  Laws  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts  Re- 
lating to  Public  Instruction,  enacted  by  the  Lesrislature  November  21, 
1901,  to  take  effect  January  1,  1902,  with  subsequent  amendments  and 
additions   from    1902    to    1914,    inclusive;    1915. 

Massachusetts — Educational  Legislation  Enacted  in  1915.  1916,  1917,  1918. 
The  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts,  Bulletin  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion,  1918,   No.   7    (Whole  No.   98). 

Massachusetts— Educational  Legislation  Enacted  in  1919.  The  Common- 
wealth of  Massachusetts,  Bulletin  of  the  Board  of  Education,  1919,  No. 
6   (Whole  No.   108). 

Michigan — General  School  Laws,  Revision  of  1919.  Compiled  under  the  su- 
pervision  of   Coleman    E.    Vaughan,    Secretary    of   State. 

Minnesota — Laws  of  Minnesota  Relating  to  the  Public  School  System,  In- 
cluding the  State  Normal  Schools  and  the  University  of  Minnesota,  1919. 
Prepared  under  direction  of  James  M.  McConnell,  Commissioner  of  Edu- 
cation,  and   Clifford  L.   Hilton,  Attorney  General. 

Mississippi — School  Laws  of  the  State  of  Mississippi,  1918.  W.  F.  Bond,  State 
Superintendent   of   Education. 

Mississippi — School  Laws  of  the  State  of  Mississippi  Enacted  by  the  Legis- 
lature  of   1920.     W.    F.    Bond.    State    Superintendent   of   Education. 

Missouri — Revised  School  Law  of  the  State  of  Missouri;  Revised  Statutes 
of  1909,  Session  Acts  of  1911,  1913,  1915,  and  1917;  1917.  Uel  W.  Lam- 
kin,   State  Superintendent  of  Public   Schools. 

Missouri — Committee  Substitute  for  House  Bill  No.  128,  Fifty-first  General 
Assembly.  An  act  creating  a  county  school  district  in  each  county  of 
the  state,    .     .     .     (1921). 

Montana — School  Laws  of  the  State  of  Montana,  June,  1919.  Compiled  at 
the  office  of  the  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction. 

Nebraska — The  School  Laws  of  Nebraska,  1919  Edition.  W.  A.  Clemmons, 
Superintendent   of   Public   Instruction. 

Nevada — The  School  Code,  1919,  as  Amended.  Compiled  and  issued  by  the 
Superintendent  of  Public   Insruction,  August.   1919. 

New  Hampshire — Laws  of  New  Hampshire  Relating  to  Public  Schools,  com- 
piled from  Public  Statutes  and  Session  Laws  of  1891-1917,  Inclusive;  1917. 
Department    of    Public    Instruction. 

New  Hampshire — An  Act  in  Amendment  of  the  Laws  Relating  to  Public 
Schools  and  Establishing  a  State  Board  of  Education.  Approved  March 
1919;    1919.     State   of  New   Hampshire. 

New  Jersey — New  Jersey  School  Laws  and  Rules  and  Regulations  Prescribed 
by  the  State  Board  of  Education,  etc.,  1918.  Prepared  by  the  Commissioner 
of  Education. 

New  Jersey— Laws  of  New  Jersey,  1919,  Chaper  80  and  Chapter  81  (Ap- 
proved April   10,   1919);   1919.     McCrellish  &  Quigley,   State  Printers. 

New  Jersey — Amendments  and  Supplements  to  School  Law,  together  with 
Related  Laws,  Session  of  1919.  State  of  New  Jersey,  Department  of 
Education  Bulletin.  Vol.   V,   No.  9.  May,   1919. 

New  Jersey — Amendments  and  Supplements  to  School  Law,  togrethcr  with 
Related  Laws,  Session  of  1920.  State  of  New  Jersey,  Department  of 
Education   Bulletin,    Vol.   VI,    No.   9,   May,    1920. 

New  Mexico— Compilation  of  School  Laws  of  State  of  New  Mexico,  1919. 
Jonathan  H.   Wagner,    State   Superintendent   of   Public  Instruction. 

North  Calorina— The  Public  School  Law  of  North  Carolina.  1919.  Issued 
from   the  Office  of   the   State   Superintendent  of   Public   Instruction. 

North  Dakota — General  School  Laws,  comprising  all  the  laws  in  force  per- 
taining to  the  Public  Schools,  1919.  State  of  North  Dakota,  Department 
of  Public  Instruction. 


42  THE    LAY    ELEMENT    IN    THE   INTERMEDIATE 

North  Dakota — Educational  Laws  Enacted  by  the  1921  Session  of  the  Legis- 
lature of  North  Dakota.  1921.  Issued  by  the  State  Department  of  Educa- 
tion,   Minnie   J.    Neilson,    Superintendent. 

Ohio— Ohio  Scliool  Laws,  1915.  Compiled  under  the  direction  of  Frank  W. 
Miller,    Superintendent    of    Public    Instruction. 

Ohio — Advance  aheets  of  School  Laws,  Enacted  by  the  Eighty-second  Gen- 
eral Assembly  at  its  Regular  Session,  1917;  1917.  Compiled  and  prepared 
by  H.  D.  Swygert,  Statistician,  F.  B.  Pearson,  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction. 

Ohio — Advance  Sheets  of  School  Laws  Enacted  by  the  Eighty-third  Gen- 
eral Assembly  at  its  Regular  Session,  1919;  1919.  Compiled  and  prepared 
by  H.  D.  Swygert,  Statistician,  F.  B.  Pearson,  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction. 

Oklahoma — School  Laws  of  Oklahoma,  1919.  Compiled  under  direction  of 
R.  H.   Wilson,   State   Superintendent  of  Public   Instruction. 

Oregon — Oregon  School  Laws  with  Rules  and  Regulations  of  the  State  Board 
of  Education.  1919.  Prepared  by  the  State  Superintendent  of  Public  In- 
struction. 

Oregon — General  Laws  of  Oregon,  1921,  Chapter  255:  An  Act  establishing 
school  districts  in  any  county  of  the  state  when  adopted  by  the  voters 
of   such  county;    1921. 

Pennsylvania — Tlie  School  Law  and  Appendix,  1919.  Commonwealth  of 
Pennsylvania,    Department   of   Public   Instruction. 

Rhode  Island — Laws  of  Rhode  Island  Relatinsr  to  Education.  In  force  Jan- 
uary 1,  1910;  1910.  Compiled  by  Walter  E.  Ranger,  Commissioner  of 
Public  Schools. 

Rhode  Island — Laws  of  Rhode  Island  Relating  to  Education.  Supplements 
No.  II  (Acts  of  1911)  No.  Ill  (Acts  of  1912),  No.  IV  (Acts  of  1913),  No. 
V  (Acts  of  1914),  No.  VI  (Acts  of  1915),  No.  VII  (Acts  of  1916),  No.  VIII 
(Acts  of  1917),  No.  IX  (Acts  of  1918),  No.  X  (Acts  of  1919),  and  No.  XI 
(Acts  of  1920).  Department  of  Education,  State  of  Rhode  Island.  Educa- 
tion Circulars. 

South  Carolina — General  School  Law  of  South  CaroUna,  1919;  1919.  Pub- 
lished by  J.   E.  Swearington,   State  Superintendent  of  Education. 

South  Dakota — The  School  Laws  of  South  Dakota,   Annotated  Edition,   1919. 

Tennessee — ^^Public  School  Laws  of  Tennessee,  together  with  leading  deci- 
sions of  Supreme  Court,  explanatory  notes  and  amendments  made  by  the 
General  Assemblies  to  June  1,  1920.  Robert  Williams,  State  Superin- 
tendent of   Public   Instruction. 

Tennessee — Public  School  Laws  of  Tennessee,  Enacted  by  the  General  As- 
sembly of  1921  (Supplement  to  the  1920  Compilation  of  School  Laws). 
Issued  by  the   State   Superintendent  of   Public  Instruction. 

Texas — Public  School  Laws  of  Texas  with  Court  Decisions  and  Comiments  for 
the  Use  of  School  Officers;  December  1,  1917.  The  Department  of  Edu- 
cation,  State   of  Texas,   Bulletin   70. 

Texas — School  Legislation  of  the  Second  Called  Session  of  the  Thirty-sixth 
Legislature,  July.  1919.  Department  of  Education,  State  of  Texas,  Bul- 
letin 102. 

Texas — Texas  School  Laws.  A  Brief  Compilation  for  Teachers,  Relating  to 
Teachers  and  Pupils;  June,  1920.  Department  of  Education,  State  of 
Texas,   Bulletin   122. 

Utah — School  Laws,  Reprinted  from  Compiled  Laws  of  Utah,  1917,  and 
Session  Laws  of  Utah,  1919.  State  of  Utah,  Department  of  Public  In- 
struction, E.    G.    Gowans,    Superintendent. 

Vermont — General  Laws  of  the  State  of  Vermont  Relating  to  the  Department 
of  Education;    1918. 

Vermont — Acts  of  1919,  Nos.  55,  56.  58,  and  59,  Relating  to  Appointment  of 
Superintendents.  .  .  .  State  of  Vermont,  State  Board  of  Education 
Bulletin  No.  3,  1919. 

Virginia — Virginia  School  Laws,  June,  1920.  Bulletin,  State  Board  of  Edu- 
cation,  Vol.   Ill,   No.   1. 

Washington — Code  of  Public  Instruction,  Annotated,  together  with  Opinions 
of  the  Attorney  General's  Citations  from  Decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court. 
Rules  of  the  State  Board  of  Education,  Instructions  Relative  to  the 
Issuance  of  Bonds,  and  an  Appendix;   1917.     State  of  Washington. 

Washington — School  Laws  of  Washing-ton  Enacted  by  the  Legislature  of 
1919;  1919.  Published  by  authority.  Mrs.  Josephine  Corliss  Preston,  Super- 
intendent. 

West  Virginia — The  School  Law  of  West  Virginia,  Containing  the  provisions 
of  the  Constitution  relating  to  Public  Education,  Chapter  45  of  the  Code, 
and  other  Acts  and  parts  of  Acts  relating  to  Public  Education;  March,, 
1920.  Compiled  and  Issued  by  the  Department  of  Schools,  M.  P.  Shawkey, 
State    Superintendent. 

Wisconsin — Wisconsin  School  Code,  1919.  Published  under  the  direction  of 
E.    P.    Cary,    State    Superintendent. 

Wyoming — School  Laws  of  the  State  of  Wyoming,  1919.  Compiled  under  the 
direction  of  the  State  Department  of  Education. 


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